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Pacers star Pascal Siakam 'wasn't even close' to being an NBA player when he started at NMSU, former coach says
New Mexico State’s Pascal Siakam dunks in a December 2015 game against the New Mexico Lobos at the Pan American Center.
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Indiana Pacers star Pascal Siakam had athleticism and potential when he arrived at New Mexico State University in 2013, but not many would have predicted his skills on the court would manifest into a potential Hall of Fame NBA career.
“To be quite honest, when he first came, he was not an NBA player off of what we saw and what he had … wasn’t even close,” recalled former NMSU Aggies basketball coach Marvin Menzies and current coach of the Kansas City Roos, on Episode 107 of the Journal’s Talking Grammer podcast.
In Episode 107 of the Talking Grammer podcast, as the NBA Finals are upon us this week, I caught up with former New Mexico State and UNLV coach Marvin Menzies, who recruited and coached Pascal Siakam. The former Aggies great was a 2016 first round draft pick of the Toronto Raptors and is now with the Indiana Pacers, who are in the NBA Finals, which start this week. I talk with Menzies, who is now the head coach of the Kansas City Roos, about Siakam's growth as a player and a person at NMSU and when he knew Siakam was destined to be great. (TG 06.03.25)
Siakam, a 6-foot-8 forward from Cameroon, had one year at a prep school in Texas before enrolling at NMSU. He didn’t play basketball his first season, choosing to redshirt and catch up academically. Then, right before the start of the 2014-15 season, his father died. That event, Menzies said, triggered something in Siakam.
After spending some time with family, Siakam returned to NMSU “laser-focused” on becoming great — carrying the hopes of this father and three older brothers — all Division I athletes themselves — on his shoulders.
He became a breakout star in the Western Athletic Conference his redshirt freshman season and then the WAC Player of the Year in his sophomore campaign.
Siakam matured as a person and a player in ways Menzies said he hasn’t seen very often
“It was a series of incremental growth moments where you go, ‘Whoa!’ … And then all of a sudden it was like, Yeah. He might be able to get drafted this year,” the veteran coach said.
Siakam declared for draft after his sophomore year and the Toronto Raptors selected him in the late first round of the 2016 NBA Draft.
He won a title with the Raptors and is eyeing another one with the upstart Pacers heading into Thursday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 31-year-old Siakam boasts a résumé that includes three NBA All-Star appearances and this season’s Larry Bird Trophy, given to the best player in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Menzies says he still sees that same determination and continual growth from the Aggie great.
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“That’s how it’s supposed to be, right? If you don’t keep growing, then you’re just getting older,” Menzies said. “But if you have life experience and you mature from it, then every day you should be the best version of yourself, if you really think about it. And right now, I honestly think, basketball wise, he’s the best version of himself. And I think that there’s still more.”
