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Forest graduate succeeding at Rice
  
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By Michael Sudhalter
Aleks Perka is getting a top-notch education for free, playing against some of the top programs in college basketball and lbuilding towards a career in sports management.
It’s been quite a ride for a kid who started his high school basketball career on the Klein Forest freshman B team.
The Rice University senior forward has developed into a leader for the Owls (4-7). He’s currently sidelined with a hyperextended knee, but averaged 7.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in six games.
Perka, 21, is expected to return the Owls’ lineup for the beginning of Conference USA competition.
Klein Forest boys basketball coach Cary Black isn’t surprised with Perka’s success. The 2005 Klein Forest graduate played two years of varsity basketball for the Golden Eagles, averaging 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks during his senior year.
“He’s very smart, and he really worked hard,” Black said. “Between his sophomore and junior year, he got really serious and worked on his game pretty hard. He just really improved.”
That’s been true of his time at Rice as well, where he averaged 2.8 points per game over his first three seasons.
“This is my senior year, and it’s a different experience because we have a new coach and we have a new arena,” Perka said.
Former California coach Ben Braun replaced longtime Rice coach Willis Wilson after the Owls went 3-27, 0-16 in C-USA. Last season’s team split its home games between the Reliant Arena and the Merrell Center in Katy while the new Tudor Fieldhouse was being constructed.
“Coach Braun is a great guy, and he really knows what he’s doing,” Perka said. “I like everything I’ve been doing in the past couple months with him and his staff. It will help me later on, if I don’t play basketball, it will help me in my career in general.”
Perka was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1987 and moved to New York City in 1990 and Houston in 1997.
His parents, Wlodzimierz and Delfina, left Poland in search for a better life; their journey brought them to their permenant home of Houston when Aleks was 10.
“They grew up in communist times, and they were both athletes as well,” Perka said. “They thought to have a better life for them and me, moving to America would be the best thing.”
Perka is majoring in sports management and minoring in sociology and would like to stay in Greater Houston when he graduates from Rice in the spring.
Internships with the Houston Aeros’ minor league hockey team and Sam Houston Racepark gave a him a glimpse into his future.
“I enjoy sports, and as an athlete, you don’t really understand everything it takes to get a game together,” Perka said. “You have to get everybody on the same page and everything running smoothly. I saw that with the Aeros and Sam Houston Racepark. I realized that it took a lot, and I really enjoyed doing it.”
“I love the city of Houston, and I want to be part of that culture here in Houston. I enjoy the people that I went to high school with and the relationships I formed here at Rice, I enjoy the atmosphere.”
Rice plays a challenging schedule that includes national powers Texas and Oklahoma as well as Conference USA defending champion Memphis, which lost in overtime to Kansas in the NCAA Championship Game.
“It’s really amazing,” Perka said. “Those kinds of experiences are once in a lifetime. Being a Division I athlete is huge. It’s something I’ll take with me the rest of my life. Having great coaches that are behind me, it’s just a great experience knowing that you were able to compete against some players who will go on to play in the NBA or become great businessmen.”
Still, beating the crosstown rival Houston Cougars is Perka’s favorite memory as an Owl.
“Two years ago, we were playing UH at home, and we were down 22 points at halftime,” Perka said. “With eight minutes to go it was a 28-point game, we realized we weren’t going to lose. We ended up beating them by 10 points, it was one of the greatest turnarounds in Rice history.”
It’s been quite a ride for a kid who started his high school basketball career on the Klein Forest freshman B team.
The Rice University senior forward has developed into a leader for the Owls (4-7). He’s currently sidelined with a hyperextended knee, but averaged 7.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in six games.
Perka, 21, is expected to return the Owls’ lineup for the beginning of Conference USA competition.
Klein Forest boys basketball coach Cary Black isn’t surprised with Perka’s success. The 2005 Klein Forest graduate played two years of varsity basketball for the Golden Eagles, averaging 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks during his senior year.
“He’s very smart, and he really worked hard,” Black said. “Between his sophomore and junior year, he got really serious and worked on his game pretty hard. He just really improved.”
That’s been true of his time at Rice as well, where he averaged 2.8 points per game over his first three seasons.
“This is my senior year, and it’s a different experience because we have a new coach and we have a new arena,” Perka said.
Former California coach Ben Braun replaced longtime Rice coach Willis Wilson after the Owls went 3-27, 0-16 in C-USA. Last season’s team split its home games between the Reliant Arena and the Merrell Center in Katy while the new Tudor Fieldhouse was being constructed.
“Coach Braun is a great guy, and he really knows what he’s doing,” Perka said. “I like everything I’ve been doing in the past couple months with him and his staff. It will help me later on, if I don’t play basketball, it will help me in my career in general.”
Perka was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1987 and moved to New York City in 1990 and Houston in 1997.
His parents, Wlodzimierz and Delfina, left Poland in search for a better life; their journey brought them to their permenant home of Houston when Aleks was 10.
“They grew up in communist times, and they were both athletes as well,” Perka said. “They thought to have a better life for them and me, moving to America would be the best thing.”
Perka is majoring in sports management and minoring in sociology and would like to stay in Greater Houston when he graduates from Rice in the spring.
Internships with the Houston Aeros’ minor league hockey team and Sam Houston Racepark gave a him a glimpse into his future.
“I enjoy sports, and as an athlete, you don’t really understand everything it takes to get a game together,” Perka said. “You have to get everybody on the same page and everything running smoothly. I saw that with the Aeros and Sam Houston Racepark. I realized that it took a lot, and I really enjoyed doing it.”
“I love the city of Houston, and I want to be part of that culture here in Houston. I enjoy the people that I went to high school with and the relationships I formed here at Rice, I enjoy the atmosphere.”
Rice plays a challenging schedule that includes national powers Texas and Oklahoma as well as Conference USA defending champion Memphis, which lost in overtime to Kansas in the NCAA Championship Game.
“It’s really amazing,” Perka said. “Those kinds of experiences are once in a lifetime. Being a Division I athlete is huge. It’s something I’ll take with me the rest of my life. Having great coaches that are behind me, it’s just a great experience knowing that you were able to compete against some players who will go on to play in the NBA or become great businessmen.”
Still, beating the crosstown rival Houston Cougars is Perka’s favorite memory as an Owl.
“Two years ago, we were playing UH at home, and we were down 22 points at halftime,” Perka said. “With eight minutes to go it was a 28-point game, we realized we weren’t going to lose. We ended up beating them by 10 points, it was one of the greatest turnarounds in Rice history.”
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