Canadian NCAA coach Paul Weir says Siakam’s work ethic was evident early on
TORONTO — Pascal Siakam walked into Paul Weir’s coaching office at New Mexico State one day and asked to borrow a book on basketball.
It was a moment that spoke volumes about just how raw the scrawny rookie from Cameroon was. It also said plenty about Siakam’s boundless desire to be better.
“I’d give him a 300-page, 400-page textbook on basketball. He’d come back two days later and say ‘Do you have another one?’” Weir said. “He was just a very eager kid to be the best he could be.”
The 39-year-old coach from Mississauga, Ont., was an assistant at New Mexico State for the three seasons Siakam was there, and is cheering the Toronto Raptors forward from afar in the NBA playoffs.