“What did your son like about Dayton and the coaches?” he was asked.
“Greatest fans,” Tserenjankhar wrote. “Coaching staff is best and nicest.”
Sharavjamts, a 6-foot-8 ç in the class of 2022 now playing for the International Sports Academy in Willoughby, Ohio, announced his decision to play for Dayton on Tuesday night. He first visited the United States to train at the United States Basketball Academy in Oregon with his dad and some Mongolia teammates in 2015. His connection to Ohio goes back three years.
Brad Newsome, a longtime basketball coach in the area who was at Legacy Christian in Xenia in 2018, said Sharavjamts came to Athletes in Action for a basketball camp with Erdenebileg Lkhagva, a native of Mongolia who’s a Global Basketball Associate for the Xenia-based organization. Lkhagva played with Tserenjankhar in Mongolia, Newsome said.
Sharavjamts then went home to Mongolia but came back to live with Lkhagva and his wife and enrolled at Legacy Christian. Newsome said his team was blessed to add Sharavjamts, and they have stayed in touch since he left after his freshman season.
“He comes from a good family,” Newsome said. “He’s a very motivated individual. He was a phenomenal basketball player as a freshman. But he was also just a good kid. One of his better friends that he has kept in contact doesn’t even play sports. I’m happy that he’s been able to have success.”
Sharavjamts averaged 10.5 points — the third-best total on the team — in 19 games in the 2018-19 season. Legacy Christian finished 20-4 and won the Metro Buckeye Conference championship.
When Lkhagva moved to Atlanta, Newsome said, Sharavjamts left to live with another family friend from Mongolia in California and played his second season with Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif. He stayed in touch with Newsome and his son Roman, who was Legacy Christian’s second-leading scorer in the 2018-19 season.
“He’s hung out with us over the summers,” Newsome said. “He would come stay for a week or whatever. We’ve made a connection, and he just isn’t the kind of kid that bounces from place to place. I know he’s been to a couple of different schools, but I think the connections that he’s made over the years, he’s the kind of kid that will honor that. As far as basketball goes, he just had a presence on the court as a passer, as a ball handler, which may sound like something simple, but at his size it was something special.”
Playing in the United States has helped Sharavjamts, his dad said.
“He got very good for last four years,” Tserenjankhar wrote. “To be best, you should play and practice with best. The (USA) is the best place to learn and play basketball.”
Tserenjankhar, a 7-foot center, is Mongolia’s most famous basketball player. He played for the Harlem Globetrotters 20 years ago and said he visited more than 300 U.S. cities, including Dayton. He said Michael was born in Phoenix, Ariz., while he was playing for the Globetrotters.
Sharavjamts was still learning English when he arrived at Legacy Christian. Newsome remembers using a Google translation app to communicate with him, but he caught on quickly. Sometimes he would tell Newsome, “No, coach, I’ve got it,” after Newsome stopped to try to use his phone to communicate with him.
The recruiting attention started that season, Newsome said. He remembered getting text messages from six different coaches who wanted to watch Sharavjamts at a game against Middletown Christian. Donnie Jones, who was then an assistant coach on Dayton head coach Anthony Grant’s staff, saw Sharavjamts play at an open gym.
That’s how Sharavjamts ended up on Dayton’s radar. He’ll remain on the radar of Newsome, who said he plans to go watch Sharavjamts play at Dayton.
“It’s exciting,” he said, “and I think he’ll do well. I don’t think he’s just going to be another name that signed. I think he’ll have a good career there.”
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