The United States is known as a country of opportunities for anybody who wants to make their dream a reality. Allen Community College has a community of international students who have come to the United States to pursue a career and realize their goals.

One such student is Igor Christian Ibaka Kabasele, 22, who was born in Congo, Africa, spent part of his childhood in Paris, France, and lived six years in Barcelona, Spain where he played basketball during high school.

Coming from a family where everybody plays basketball, Igor came to the United States to make his dream come true of playing in the NBA like his old brother, the Oklahoma City Thunders superstar Serge Ibaka. Both of Igor’s parents also played professional basketball in Congo. The young student-athlete who turns 23 on July 30 had visited the U.S. previously, but it was last year when he came to live in the States and went to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami where he started his college career and played basketball.

Unfortunately, Ibaka cannot play here at Allen because of a rule that says international players older than 21 cannot participate in the league, but he  is part of the Red Devils team and plans to graduate from Allen and then transfer to Oklahoma State University where he plans to play NCAA which is also one of his dreams.

He is currently studying to be a sports manager. Impressively, Igor can speak six languages: French, Spanish, Catalan, Ingala, Tsialu, and English. His biggest dream is to play in the NBA and he thinks he has a chance, but as he knows, hard work is the key to reaching his goal.