Published Mar 27, 2020
Lockdown Q&A with Rah Felder
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Chris Gillespie  •  GamecockScoop
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Some players head to college with high hopes and high expectations such as Sindarius Thornwell or P.J. Dozier. Others, like Maik Kotsar, and Chris Silva often need time to polish their games to become consistent players.

Then there are those players whose collegiate career doesn’t quite go as expected, such as former Gamecock, Rakym Felder. I had a chance to catch up with Rakym (Rah), to get an update as to how his career was going since leaving the South Carolina program.

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GC: Rah, How are you doing these days?

RF: "I’m doing good, can’t complain at all. How are you doing?"

GC: I’m doing alright. It’s funny that you ask that, because a conversation Collyn Taylor and I have from time to time about how you are one of the only players to ask us how we’re doing, and how our families are doing. We definitely appreciate that, since we’re so accustomed to being the ones asking all the questions!

RF: "Yes sir, most definitely!"

Also see: Latest scoop from the football team

GC: Three years ago, you guys had just knocked off Marquette and Duke, and were getting ready to head to New York City. What was this time like for you?

RF: "What was going on was a lot of focus and preparation and getting ready for the big games that we had ahead of us. You know we were just taking it one game at a time being that our first game was Marquette, a real good team, well organized and they had a lot of good players that could hurt you in so many ways. We were really just trying to key in and get through the first game of the tournament. We knew nobody could lace up with us five on five. We knew we could beat anyone in a one game situation so we went in there with ultimate confidence, you know just ready to make history. As you can see, it was history from there on."

GC: Before I get ahead of myself, you are a guy who is known to be from New York, but you have some South Carolina roots, I believe the Fort Mill area and Indian Land High School. How did that come about?

RF: "In seventh grade, my mother had moved down to Cary, North Carolina and I had reached out to this AAU team located in Charlotte, North Carolina, so I had to make that commute as a seventh grader, you know I was about 13 then. I took the Amtrak all the way up to Charlotte to practice with that team and had met a special lady who’s still in my life to this day and I call her my mother. She goes by the name of Kacy Fletcher. She was a team mom and I got close with her and I ended up moving in with her in the seventh grade so I actually left home from all my brothers and sisters. It was just a once in a lifetime opportunity for an inner city kid moving down to the south. I felt like I had nothing. I was poor at the time and my birth mom didn’t have much going on so Kacy Fletcher stepped in and took me under her wing and she blessed me with a home. I had family in Fort Mill, South Carolina and I had blood related family in Orangeburg, South Carolina and Sumter, South Carolina. It was a good situation for me to move with her. She lived in Fort Mill, South Carolina. I ended up going to middle school in South Carolina and I ended up going to high school for one year in South Carolina and that’s how that happened."

GC: There used to be a big pipeline from New York to South Carolina for basketball players many years ago but since then, it’s been few and far between. Can you talk about your recruitment and how you ended up back in South Carolina?

RF: "Yeah, when I was in high school in South Carolina I played varsity football my ninth grade year. I played offense and defense and I actually did pretty good leading the team in tackles and yards rushed. I always looked at South Carolina as my dream school and I wanted to go there for football at first. Then I moved back to Brooklyn from South Carolina where I went to Abraham Lincoln High School. I stopped playing football and came back to South Carolina to a tournament in North Charleston with Abraham Lincoln High School and that’s where I saw Coach Figg (former assistant Matt Figger) at the gym. I knew he was a recruiter for South Carolina and I was amazed, I was like I gotta go talk to that guy and introduce myself and let him know that South Carolina is my dream school. I got to shake his hand and whatnot. A week later after I got tournament MVP I got a call. I told my coach I really want to go to that school. I guess my coach made a call and told them I hey I got this kid here who’s interested in coming to the University of South Carolina. A week after the tournament is when I got to speak on the phone with Frank. I was really in shock. I was like they really recognize me and I guess they fell in love with my game. From there I signed instantly with Frank. We spoke for about an hour, you know about basketball, personal life and everything. That’s the day I committed and that was the best day of my life actually being on the phone and talking to Frank and just getting to know him. So that’s how that happened."

GC: How did you transition being a student athlete at South Carolina and how was it different than what you were used to growing up?

RF: "It was definitely a culture shock just being down there and the amount of people and surrounded by all the love. The amount of love I was getting was unreal being that I was from Brooklyn where everyone hated on you. It was just so unreal and I didn’t know how to handle it and the diversity, you know the blacks, the whites, the Asians. It was so many people and I didn’t know how to handle it and how to interact. I didn’t even know how to interact with the people in my neighborhood. That put me in my shell and a bubble. It was just mind blowing to me. I couldn’t grasp the love that was being given."

Also see: Seven defensive linemen to watch in the 2021 class

GC: How hard was it for you to be 18 years old and step foot on campus where people already knew you and already had high hopes for you?

RF: "For me it was difficult because I have high anxiety. I felt like I had to walk a perfect line and I wasn’t a perfect kid growing up you know. I went through my trials and tribulations and whatnot. I felt like I had to walk a perfect line and I wasn’t that kind of kid at that moment. Being at South Carolina helped me mature from the mistakes I had while I was there and whatnot. It was just overwhelming coming straight out of high school and being in the limelight. A lot of kids don’t know how to handle that and if you don’t have that strong support system by your side that can kinda ruin everything for you, being out there just alone. It’s like you’re just in a daze."

GC: There was some uncertainty whether or not you were going to get to play your first season. Was your situation as uncertain as it seemed? What was it like behind the scenes?

RF: "Nah, it wasn’t as last minute as it seemed. Coach Martin always kept it honest with me. He always kept it real with me. He let me know way beforehand that hey, you’re gonna warm up but I’m not gonna play you this game. I’m gonna play you next game. So I already had the mindset that, you know, that I was just gonna try to be the best teammate ever and just cheer as loud as possible from the bench and make sure the coaches knew that I was engaged and being a great teammate."

GC: I like watching guys that are good teammates, but I really enjoy watching teams that have a guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve. Would you say that’s your style of play?

RF: "Coming in to South Carolina I knew who was ahead of me. I knew P.J. Dozier who was an All American, he was ahead of me. Hassani Gravett who was a JUCO star was ahead of me. Everyday I just tried to compete with those guys and make those guys better and those guys were making me better. Those guys took me under their wing and tried to lead by example. My style of play, I was just trying to be physical, try to be intense, you know try to get my teammates involved. One day in practice, I was being overly passive and Sindarius walked up to me and said hey, you know you can shoot sometimes, too right? I was like, oh really? I was just being a robot trying to run the offense and trying to be perfect. He was like, bro, you can shoot sometimes, too. I know you’re gonna mess up but we’ve got your back. There’s nothing wrong with maxing out sometimes. So that gave me the ultimate confidence to go out and perfect my game. The relationship I had with the coaches and assistant coaches, they were like father figures to me. They gave me the energy to go out there and produce. The coaching staff was a really big help to my transition."

GC: You were a pretty solid built guy coming in as a freshman. I think you were right at 210 when you arrived.

RF: "I was super overweight coming in as a freshman. I had broke my foot my senior year in the playoffs. I hadn’t hooped the whole summer and I got down to South Carolina and I was feeling bloated and feeling out of shape and the trainer Mark, he had got me back to top notch shape and I was just feeling good after I had my surgery and recovered."

GC: Frank is a coach who gets a lot of heat from people, whether it’s after a loss or if the camera picks up something he says or does. What are your thoughts on how people react to Frank being Frank?

"The people who react negatively clearly don’t know Frank Martin as a human being. They don’t know him personally. Of course, looking from the outside in, look at him yelling at the kids. No, that’s his way of teaching. Everybody has a way of teaching. There’s going to be a lot of negative comments about him but if you ask any player about Frank Martin they’ll tell you that he’s the most caring, loving dude to be around and he’s actually a funny guy. The things you might see on the court, we don’t take that personally because we all know his basketball emotions get involved. But once the game is over, if he said something that we felt like was touching to us, he’s gonna come to us as a man to apologize. He holds himself accountable and that’s what makes him a special guy because not a lot of men in college basketball hold themselves accountable. He’s that kinda guy that you’ll always go to bat for and he’ll do the same for you."

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GC: If you could come up with one play from your freshman season as your highlight, which one would it be?

RF: "I really have two plays. There was one play at the beginning of the season. It was a play that really boosted my confidence vs South Carolina State where I did a move and the guy kinda went flying and I hit a three. If you watch the video you can see the bench reaction and that’s what caught my eye being on the court, the way my teammates were cheering for me. And another play was against Georgia and J.J. Frazier who was the top point guard in the NCAA at that time. I caught the ball at the top of the key, did a shot fake, an in and out spin and went to the right hand layup. I looked at Frazier and he could have sworn I didn’t use my right hand all year so I tried to use my right hand and make him proud."

WARNING: FOLLOWING VIDEO MAY CONTAIN LYRICS THAT SOME MIGHT FIND OFFENSIVE. FEEL FREE TO TURN OFF THE SOUND.

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GC: Back to the tournament and New York. When I arrived, it was like South Carolina took over Times Square. Did you guys get an opportunity to see what all had been done in Times Square with the South Carolina player photos on billboards and tv screens?

RF: "Definitely! South Carolina, we have a Gamecock Club in New York, so the fans made it unbelievable. They made it feel like we were at home. They brought a lot of energy to the hotel and shipping us off to the games. We were surrounded by a lot of love and it made us feel good and we wanted to make South Carolina proud."

GC: With you being from New York and having people there who know you, was this a homecoming for you? Also, what was the atmosphere around the team like?

GC: "For me personally, prior to the tournament I had got my heart broken on that same Madison Square Garden court. We lost the city championship to Shamorie Ponds who had committed to St. Johns at the time. I left Madison Square Garden after that with a bitter taste in my mouth. Fast forward a year, when the team got there, the mindset was that we felt unstoppable. I think that came from all the practicing, the scouting reports. We were just locked in like super locked in. Frank and his staff did a super job of keeping us prepared and things of that nature. We wanted to perform and we wanted to show that South Carolina belonged and we made it happen. We went out there and we played our hearts out and we came out victorious."

GC: Baylor had two players, both close to 7-footers who were, at the time, projected to be NBA picks. Did you guys expect to lock them down and handle them as easily as you did?

RF: "I’m not saying we expected that, but we had the proper gameplan. And plus, we had pieces around us, too. We had Sindarius Thornwell who thought he was just as good as any player in the NCAA. We also had P.J. Dozier, Duane Notice, we had Justin McKie. We had guys who had been at South Carolina for four years who had been through the ups and downs. The young guys, we just came, gathered around those guys and they led us and we just went out there and played. I think we won that game by 20. We kinda gave them a butt whippin'."

GC: One of the things that surprised me about that game was at the end of the game when Frank instructed Duane Notice to allow the play clock to expire on two straight possessions. That was the equivalent of a quarterback taking a knee to run out the clock at the end of a game. Have you ever seen a coach do that?

RF: "Nah, I’ve never seen that before, but that came from playing hard and sticking to his game plan. That allowed us to be victorious."

GC: Against Florida, Duane Notice was able to get open and streak to the basket toward the end of the game. Did you expect a layup, or did you think he was actually going to dunk it?

"Honestly, actually, Duane never dunks. You could tell he was gathering his steps to take off and he threw it down and I know a bunch of his family was there so I know he wanted to make an impact."

GC: The run obviously didn’t end the way you guys wanted it to end. You did face a Gonzaga team that you could have probably beaten if Sindarius is 100%. Did you guys feel unbeatable going into the final games?

RF: "You could tell Sindarius was sick the whole time out there. When he got off the plane he wasn’t himself. He didn’t really have any energy. We knew we had to have his back. He still came out there and competed at a high level and still showed that he’s capable. It kinda sucked that he wasn’t fully healthy but we still gave Gonzaga a run for their money. We just ran out of time. I feel like if we had a little bit more time we would have got that game."

GC: Going into what should have been your sophomore year, there were lots of expectations coming off the Final Four run. In your own words, what was your second year in the program like?

RF: "Going into my second year I had gotten into a little bit of trouble where I was suspended for one semester. It was going to be a great year. We had a lot of pieces coming in and it was a perfect situation for me to thrive in that environment. I feel like I failed myself, I failed the university, I failed my teammates and coaches. That was just a tough year for me all across the boards. I’m just glad I had real teammates around me and coaches that tried to uplift me everyday and tried to get me out of the slump that I was going through."

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GC: During your redshirt season, Frank spoke a lot about the team not having a true leader. He mentioned several times that the only guys who would speak up in practice were you and Brian Bowen who were the two guys who weren’t even able to play for the team. What was your role during that time?

RF: "I know Frank kinda banked on me to be that guy. That was my apology to my teammates to make my teammates better and to push them everyday during practice to be the best that they can be. I knew I could be vocal and I knew I had the talent, I had the strength and I had the mindset to do that on the court. What I was lacking was the off the court. I just tried to better my teammates."

GC: With you having your difficulties, how did the guys on the team respond to you when you attempted to take a leadership role?

RF: "My guys, they respected me. They knew what I was about. They knew I wanted them to be better than me. They understood why I was pushing them. As long as people understand why, they’ll follow your lead. They knew that I wanted them to be better than me all across the boards. I didn’t want them to make the same mistakes I made and put themselves in the predicament I was in. They gave me that respect and they responded well to me. When I came back in January, we played Kentucky. That whole week of practice I was just on them, telling them that no one can beat y’all, no one can stop y’all. We can only stop ourselves from being great. We go out there and we play Kentucky and we actually get that win which put us on a good run."

GC: What was your conversation like with Frank when it was time to part ways with South Carolina?

RF: "We came to an agreement to where, you know, it just wasn’t working out off the court for me. What got me, was he continued to stick by my side. He never knocked me, he never told me, you know, I was a bad guy. He was like Rah, I believe in you. He always encouraged me and uplifted me. Sometimes you just run out of strikes and that’s basically what happened where he could no longer go to bat for me."

GC: How has your career been since leaving South Carolina?

RF: "After leaving South Carolina I originally signed with Kent State but there were some issues there. They had actually brought in another guy from the University of New Mexico. After that, I went out to New Mexico for a year to Wylie College where I got hurt in my first game. My first game back and I had pulled my groin, so that left me out a whole year. So right now I’m just recovering, you know getting back to my old self and I just signed with the University of Tuskegee in Alabama. I think that’s the perfect fit for me and I’ll thrive there."

GC: How do you feel you’ll do once you get the chance to get back on the court?

RF "I feel like I’m better than I’ve ever been. I’ve actually had a chance to learn the game more, and you know, work on my body, work on my basketball skills. It just puts me at an advantage, honestly. I’m just ready to take the court by storm next year and show people that I’m still the same Rakym Felder."

GC: Any chance we’ll see back in Columbia playing at the S.C. Pro Am?

RF: "Oh yeah, I’m thinking about coming down this summer. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to the South Carolina roots and showing them what they missed."

GC: I definitely appreciate you taking the time to chat with me today. That 2017 team has etched itself into South Carolina history and you’re a big piece of that. Thanks for sharing your story with us!

RF: "You know, it’s all love. Gamecock Nation is still intact. I still love all the fans. I still love the university. I just want to give a shout out to the academic advisors in The Dodie who work with all the athletes and makes sure that they’re all onboard schoolwise because they don’t get enough credit. They’re all about teaching and helping young men to be young adults. That’s what it’s all about. I still love South Carolina and everything is all good."

GC: Is there anything else you’d like to add before we call it a day?

RF: "I just want to thank you for having me today and I hope all is well with you and your family."