Zeus: Tale of Zim’s Greek god

IT is often said the greatest tool in a basketball player’s arsenal is not necessarily his skills, marketability or the points he puts on the board, but a great epithet, or nickname as it may.

After all, only the greats end up with iconic monikers, and they almost always come from other stars.

Today, the world of basketball is littered with some of the best nicknames.

They range from the quintessential, as in the case “His Airiness” Michael Jordan, “King James” and “The Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Sometimes these monikers can also range from the adorable to the downright weird, as in the case of some of our home-grown talent such as Farai “Tombstone” Tumbare.

The Chitsinde brothers Taurai and Tawanda are affectionately known as “Mamba” and “Younger” respectively, and their international teammate Tatenda Maturure is known as “Dummy”.

However, throughout the annals of Zimbabwe basketball history, no nickname, or moniker has ever been quite on the nose like “Zeus”, as the late Hugh Hofisi was best known.

“If you go around the basketball fraternity today, and you ask for Hugh Hofisi, the odds are nobody will know who you are talking about.

“You have to ask for Zeus,” said Darlington Masenda, a former coach and the person directly responsible for recruiting the late Hofisi onto the Zimbabwe basketball scene.

Depending on who you ask, the Zeus in question here was either in reference to Greek mythology or American actor-cum-wrestler Tom “Zeus” Lister Jnr.

“I do not really remember who actually gave him that nickname, but the word specimen is the best word I can come up with to describe Hofisi.

“Standing at some six foot six (1,9 metres), Hugh wasn’t the tallest basketball person, but he was built like a drum. Whatever he lacked in height, he amply made up with size, power and heart. I am tempted to even say that he changed what we call centres today.

“He could score, rebound, defend and everything in-between,” he said.

There was also the theory that the name Zeus was taken from the world of film and wresting, as Hofisi was known largely for his power game and completely dominated those that stood before him.

But that is neither here nor there.

The origins of his nickname is not where his story lies, but it is an important part of it.

The tale of Hofisi, much like his moniker, unfolds like a Greek tragedy. Hofisi, under normal circumstances, would today be a guaranteed first-ballot Hall of Famer, if such a thing existed in this part of the world.

Born June 26 1970, Hofisi rose to prominence from Marlborough High School in the 1990s, which ironically were Zimbabwe’s golden years of basketball.

At the time of his passing after a short illness in July 1997, Hofisi’s accolades included a third-place finish at 1990 Junior Sportsperson of the Year (Ansa), a twotime MVP winner for Cavaliers and the Mashonaland Basketball Association (MBA), a former Barclays Knockout Cup and Inter-provincials’ winner.

He had four national titles, two with Varsity Leopards and two with Cavaliers, and two additional MBA titles with the latter. Zeus was also part of the Zimbabwe team that took part in the 1995 All-Africa Games, forming a dream combination with the club teammate Ronald Garura (also late).

Sadly, all these accomplishments run the risk of disappearing, as the club with whom he built his reputation, Cavaliers, is now defunct.

The trophy donated to the MBA (now Harare Basketball Association) by his mother as a way to honour his legacy and reward the league is gathering cobwebs somewhere in the capital.

Due to the lack of sponsorship, the awards are also defunct. All that is left of the great Zimbabwean Greek god are the memories of those old enough to have seen him play.

Still, that has not stopped the few lucky enough to have watched this once-in-a-lifetime talent play from celebrating one of their own.These include brother Sydney Hofisi, former teammate Fungai Matsika and Masenda.

“When I joined Varsity, he was my mentor, and the guy could play ball like no one I had seen before.

“He could play with his back to the hoop, make a move and score, then run back and defend the ball.

“He was good on defence.

“He used to have double-doubles, scoring well over 20 points every game and not less than 10 rebounds.

“He was good at both offence and defence and would sometimes block shots and make steals too.

“All-rounder is the best word to describe him,” Matsika said.

For Sidney Hofisi, Zeus was more than just someone he emulated on the court, he was a role model both on and off it.

“When my brother’s name comes up, I remember more than just the basketball achievements,” said the younger Hofisi.

“He was the ultimate natural athlete; playing not only basketball, but rugby, cricket and also dabbled in athletics.

“His schoolwork was also on point, never letting sport ruin his education’’.

The younger Hofisi also took time to point out Hugh’s tremendous work ethic that many believe was the reason he rose to such dizzy heights.

“His dedication and passion for this sport is the one thing that stands out the most. I remember we would go to the Marlborough High courts every chance we got and work on our game,” he said.

It is a point that was also touched upon by Masenda. “One of my favourite memories of Hugh was when he was still with us, at Varsity Leopards, and we played Celtics.

“At the time, Celtics were the best team in the league, and we trailed them by two points at the half, largely due to Hugh’s efforts, and narrowly lost at the end.

“When I called the team for a pep talk after the game, I could not find Hugh.

“I later saw him crying just outside the venue. “We had put up a good fight against a clearly better team, but he was still upset, and I had to console him.

“That was Hugh Hofisi for you, a player that always gave you his all and hated to lose.

“After games, he would stay and practise shooting, and run some drills by himself,’’ he said.