Alhaji Sidibe
John J. Bishop male Scholar-Athlete
Alhaji Sidibe
Beechcroft
Grade-point avg.: 3.4
$8,500
Encova Insurance
Sports played: Football (4 years), baseball (4), wrestling (3), basketball (1)
Academic and leadership highlights: Honor roll member; multi-year captain in three sports; Boys Initiative president
Athletic highlights: Two-time league champion in wrestling; first-team all-league in football and baseball
College choice: Ohio Wesleyan (anticipated major: health and human kinetics)
Photo location: In front of Selby Field at Ohio Wesleyan, where I will attend school this fall
Home front: My mother is Monique Webster, and I have a sister, Mariama Sidibe, who is 16.
Favorite subject: Physical education, of course. Being able to learn about and play sports during school is probably the smartest thing ever!
Least-favorite subject: Probably math, specifically geometry and trigonometry. I’ve never been good at using shapes in math. I do enjoy algebra, though.
Prized possession: My recently acquired diploma! It’s something I’ve been working for since I was 6, so it holds a lot of weight compared to anything else! My next prize will be my college degree.
Favorite book: My favorite book series is the “Baseball Card Adventures,” by Dan Gutman. I always enjoyed sports books in elementary and middle school. These books were about a middle-schooler who could time travel with baseball cards and learn more about the times these baseball players were living in. The best one was “Jackie and Me,” which talked a lot about how Jackie Robinson was treated.
Favorite movie: A documentary titled “Team Foxcatcher.” It’s about Dave Schultz, one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and the events that led to his murder.
Favorite television show: My favorite right now is probably “Survivor.” I’ve been bingeing it over quarantine.
Favorite musician: Definitely Chance the Rapper. I’ve been listening to him for a long time, and he has a good variety in his music.
Essential app: At the moment I can’t do without Snapchat because I communicate with my future college teammates through it.
Favorite home-cooked meal: Anytime my mom makes macaroni and cheese it’s my favorite meal ever.
My cooking specialty: I’m not a huge cook at all, but I can make cheesy eggs.
Favorite restaurant: Roosters, where I went just before I did this. I always get dumpster fries and boneless wings.
Guilty pleasure: I’m not sure if I have one, but maybe midnight snacking on occasion.
Proudest sports moment: In the finals of our league championship in wrestling I was losing by three points with six seconds left. But I lateral dropped my opponent and ended up winning my second league title.
Sport I’d like to try someday: Lacrosse. Growing up I had plenty of friends who played, and I’ve learned to play a little bit. It’s a good mixture of athletic ability.
Story behind my uniform number: I wear No. 52 in football because of former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. He was always the most passionate player on the field when I was growing up, and I looked up to that.
Favorite athlete: LeBron James. It started with him being drafted in 2003, a year after I was born, wearing No. 23 (my birthday is April 23). As time went on, he’s dominated the NBA and has been a great ambassador of the league and a great role model to young black people across the country.
Inspiration: I have a number of inspirations, including my mother and many of my coaches. They’ve all pushed me to be the best young man I can possibly be.
Dream job: General manager in the NFL.
Place I’d like to travel: The last time I answered this question my dream was fulfilled! Now that I’ve attended a college bowl game, the Cotton Bowl in December, I would love to make it to a Super Bowl.
Something most people don’t know about me: I was born in Columbus, moved to Boston when I was 3 years old and moved back as a freshman in high school.
Least-favorite household chore: Definitely cleaning the bathroom when it’s my turn.
Something I can’t get right no matter how hard I try: Maybe improving my mile time. It always seems to be around the same time no matter, but I can continue to improve.
Words to leave by: Black Lives Matter
By Ray Stein
rstein@dispatch.com