Romeo will make a brief television comeback when the University of Southern California Trojans play an NCAA Tournament game on Friday.
Romeo’s freshman year is coming along quite nicely. The 19-year old is the only child star to take a break from a rapping and acting career to pursue a college education. However, he hasn’t completely shied away from the entertainment realm. BallerStatus.com reports that he took to the hardwood with his fellow Trojans and won a PAC-10 championship ring.
All in all, you could say he’s having a pretty good school year. It can only get better now that he and Trojans are heading to Minneapolis for the NCAA Tournament. They’ll be playing a game against Boston College on March 20. You can catch them Friday night on CBS at 7:20 p.m.
Not interested in following in the path of other teen celebrities, who often opt to take a break from school and make a name for themselves, Romeo continues to press on to earn his degree.
“I love to party and have fun just like any other teen. I’m not perfect,” said Romeo. “My dad always told me that if you [want] to be good in basketball, you need to go to the gym and practice. If you want to be a good student, you need to pick up a book and study. And that’s what I did.”
Romeo’s dedication has paid off: Last weekend, USC beat out Arizona State. It was his teammate, Daniel Hackett, who sunk the game-winning free throws to secure the Trojan’s for their very first PAC-10 championship. His other teammate, Demar Derozan, was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player. Romeo plays point guard for the team, but he’s not a starting player.
Romeo doesn’t deny the challenges of college. Despite naysayers telling him he was making a mistake, he’s always been confident in his choice of attending USC over UCLA, “When people tell me I can’t do something, it just makes me work harder at it. I started in the music business, but I’m not afraid of change,” Romeo said. “I realize that if I further my education, and work even harder in the gym, I could have the best of both worlds.”
– Nadiah Rodriguez
