Tuesday July 29, 2025
The Rochester Somali basketball team played in two tournaments this year, one in Columbus, Ohio, in the spring, and one in Seattle this month. Contributed photo / Abdi Muhidin
Held from July 3–6 and organized by East African Community Services, the annual event drew 16 Somali-American teams from across the United States and Canada. For Rochester, a mid-sized Minnesota city with a Somali community of roughly 10,000, this wasn’t just basketball. It was visibility. A statement. A moment of pride for a group too often written off in national headlines, now earning applause on their own terms.
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Despite being undersized and largely overlooked, Rochester’s team upset squads from Denver and Westside Ohio to advance to the semifinals. They eventually fell to their in-state rivals, Minneapolis, one of the tournament’s heavyweights, but not before 18-year-old guard Sabir Ahmed lit up the scoreboard with 39 points in the quarterfinal, including seven made three-pointers, according to the tournament’s official box score. Seattle’s Stars went on to win the championship, defeating Minneapolis in the final. But Rochester’s third-place finish marked a breakthrough performance—its best result yet at a national Somali tournament.
“A lot of these kids, after high school, don’t do college basketball,” Muhidin said. “This (Somali team) keeps them as a community and a brotherhood. It keeps us together and allows us to show our talent, to be prideful in something and to be a part of a team that works with others, to be a team player, make friends and have a brotherhood for life.”
Most of the players are 21 or younger. For several, the trip to Seattle marked their first time on a plane. Between games, Muhidin took the group sightseeing, visiting the Space Needle, the Seattle Waterfront, and offering a full view of Mount Rainier.
But the real high point came on the court.
“I take a lot of pride in being Somali,” said Ahmed, a recent graduate of Rochester Century High School who holds a 3.7 GPA and will play college basketball this fall at Gustavus Adolphus College. “It made me who I am. It shaped me into who I am today.”
Rochester's Sabir Ahmed, front, shares a laugh during a Somali basketball tournament in Seattle early this month.Contributed photo / Abdi Muhidin
“We were short but talented,” Ahmed told the Post Bulletin. “We didn’t have a true big man, but everyone else had a true (center).”
Rochester’s unlikely rise mirrors a growing trend in Somali-American basketball. Across cities like Minneapolis, Columbus, and Atlanta, Somali-run leagues and travel teams have become essential community anchors. While no formal tally exists, coaches say Somali-American athletes are making quiet inroads into NCAA, NAIA and USCAA programs
“I think in terms of the Somali basketball tournament, we shocked them in what we offered,” Ahmed said. “Everyone thinks of the Twin Cities when they think of Somalis in Minnesota. Nobody thinks about Rochester. But every year, we are a step closer to taking the championship home.”
The momentum doesn’t stop here. Rochester’s team is set to compete at a regional Somali tournament in Atlanta this fall. But for Coach Muhidin, it’s the bigger picture that matters most.
“This allows us to showcase our people,” he said. “And it is our youth, they are the ones who can change the narrative one day of who we are as a people.”