Rolando Blackman is what basketball insiders would call a generational shooting guard. A two-time All-American at K-State, a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team and recent inductee in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, Blackman took his silky-smooth jumper to the NBA's Dallas Mavericks where he became a four-time all-star.

But Blackman's story is at heart an immigrant's tale. Born in Panama City, Panama in 1959, his family moved to the United States seeking a better life. The American educational system would allow Blackman, then a bright, inquisitive grade school student, to achieve just that.

"Being an immigrant is a very, very important thing in my life," Blackman said. "My whole family immigrated to the United States. At the age of five, my grandmother decided that Rolando should go to the United States. We had to wait three years before I got this special piece of paper called a student visa. Then at the age of eight, in 1967, I had an opportunity to fly a Braniff International flight and come see the rest of my family and get a chance for the educational process that would really change my life here in the United States."

"My grandmother is the one who took us in for three years before my mother came from Panama. She had me sit down many, many times in the evening and I'd watch Walter Cronkite read the news. I learned the language and the diction from him. I learned how to carry myself by watching him. That helped me a great deal."

Assimilated into life in New York, Blackman thought a career in the armed forces might be a viable option after high school. College, and the costs associated with it, still seemed like pie in the sky. But as his basketball skills developed, going to college seemed less like a dream and more like a reality – and after taking an official visit to Manhattan, Kansas, he knew K-State was home.

"In Panama you realize right away how warm the people are. They'll walk up to you and say "hi, how are you doing?" And they really mean it. The same thing happened at Kansas State University."

"We had a great leader like Michael Evans, an All-American, my freshman year. He was someone I could look up to and understand. Coach Jack Hartman was a guy putting his best foot forward on your behalf. We had a great campus of people all around who cared and understood. I was in the Midwest and it was a wonderful time for me. I felt at home."

After a great college career – including an iconic game-winning jumper against No. 1 ranked Oregon State in the NCAA Tournament that landed Blackman on the cover of Sports Illustrated – he was the ninth overall pick of the NBA Draft. He played 13 years in the NBA and another three in Europe. But there was one last piece of unfinished business at K-State that was gnawing at Blackman.

"I wanted to finish my degree," he said. "I knew when I was done playing basketball I wanted to go back to school. As soon as my playing days were over, I flew directly to Manhattan, Kansas and enrolled in the Second Win program. It gave me the chance – in one semester – to finish my degree in sociology. It was important for me to finish my degree and start the next phase of my life, whatever it may be, as a college graduate. Forget the accolades athletics. I wanted to earn my degree and move ahead as a full and whole student-athlete."