MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – In only his third full year as a triple jumper at the University of Minnesota, Hakeem Ford currently ranks second in the country. He also broke a 33-year-old school record set by Broke Keita Cline.

‘Talent, he does have a lot of talent’

The backstory:

Growing up Ford had hoops dreams, hoping one day he could be the next NBA star from Minnesota. But after not securing a college scholarship from a school he thought was worthy of his talents, Ford opened his mind towards new challenges. That’s when he started jumping during his second semester of his senior year at Minneapolis Southwest. From working out in Air Force One tennis shoes, to initially jumping in basketball shoes, Ford impressed everyone.

“I really had no expectations, I didn’t know who I was going up against, they were just like this is when state is, pull up, and I’m like alright I’ll be there,” Ford said recalling his start to track. “I go and I jump and then everyone is like dang that’s good, that’s good, that’s good. I don’t know distances, I don’t know anything, I was just out there.” 

He would eventually borrow a friend’s pair of sprinting spikes and jumped his way towards a AAA state title. 

“That was definitely electric, it was definitely one of the biggest moments in my life you know, at that time,” Ford said. 

That’s where he would meet the Gophers assistant Track & Field coach, Ibrahim Kabia, and soon after, land a scholarship from his hometown Gophers. 

Jumping to the next level

What they’re saying:

“I figured he had potential, I just knew it would take a lot of work, a lot of effort on both of our parts and just a lot of patience,” Kabia said.

“I feel like that’s every kid’s dream for sure to get that call and be like this is what we want to give you and all of this stuff,” Ford describing his offer phone call. “It especially big being from this city, Minneapolis, you know, being at the U of M, Twin Cities, it’s amazing for sure.”

But Ford would quickly realize college is a completely different animal, it was a transition that took some time. 

“It was just kind of wild to see the gap and especially like against my teammates and everything,” Ford smiling while reliving his first days with the Gophers track team. “I was like oh my goodness, these boys aren’t playing, at that moment I was like let me try to focus in and lock in on the stuff I needed to do.” 

From there, the growing pains would start for Ford.

“It was a hard transition and he will tell you that, he had some injuries, some setbacks,” Kabia said. “You’re training really for four to five months before you can even compete in an actual meet and so that was a huge challenge for him.” 

The breakthrough – Minneapolis 

Why you should care:

“Going from last year’s Big Ten meet to scratching all my jumps and I was told they were really big jumps and I was like what,” Ford imagining where he would’ve finished had he not scratched. 

That experience in the Big Ten meets fueled his drive all offseason, eventually leading to him breaking the school’s triple-jump record with a record 16.54m (54-3 ¼) at the Pepsi Florida relays.  Now Kabia and Ford believe the sky is the limit. 

“It feels really great and it kind of keeps me looking forward to the future,” Ford said. 

“The man was not on the top 10 list and then he went straight to number 1, I couldn’t tell you what it is,” Kabia said speaking of Ford’s ceiling for success.