In the digital age, where anyone can post anything about themselves with the push of a button, the title of content creator gets mentioned all the time.
As for Quinnipiac, men’s basketball sophomore forward Spence Wewe posts about his basketball journey on social media for anyone to see, and his journey has certainly come a long way.
Wewe took an unconventional route, picking up a basketball for the first time at 17-years-old. By that age, most athletes are deciding which college to take their talents to, or coming to grips with the fact that their best days are behind them.
But most of all, a lot of people would say it’s too late to start that old, and that it would be time to think realistically. But not Wewe.
Wewe, who grew up in Bristol, England, joked about his motivations for getting on the court so late.
“I heard this myth about this thing called Division I basketball,” Wewe said. “And these Americans get free education and everything to play basketball. I’m like ‘That’s crazy.’”
But his journey is no laughing matter. In fact, it almost didn’t happen at all.
During the 2023-24 season, Wewe decided to take the trip overseas and follow his hoop dreams. But it almost never came to fruition, as he was already enrolled in school in the United Kingdom and knew that if he failed at his dreams, he’d have to start all over and be behind everyone else.
“When they offered me the chance to go to Toronto, (at first) I declined it. I turned them down,” Wewe said. “But it just kept staying in my mind. If I fail, then I just come back, I’m behind in life pretty much. It just kept on wearing my mind, and I decided to bite the bullet. I said, ‘If I’m gonna go and do this, I’m gonna give everything.’”
And everything he gave. During his time with Toronto Terror Prep, Wewe averaged 11.9 points, 13.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. His performance on the court led to an opportunity to become a Bobcat, where the next chapter of his story is still being written.
Wewe describes himself as an introverted person, but his time at Quinnipiac has helped him to open up and that’s where the content creation starts.
“Coming to the States has been an opportunity for me to try and rebrand myself and try to be more outgoing,” Wewe said. “I’ve always struggled with doing things like that, putting myself online. Even though it’s something I do enjoy, the process of creating and having it out there. But I think I go to a point where my want to do it kind of overshadowed the thoughts of ‘what are people gonna say.’”
Wewe posts all types of content on social media, including this past summer, where he participated in a 30-day challenge. The goal of the challenge was to put on as much weight as possible in preparation for the upcoming season. At the end of the 30 days, it turned out he lost a little bit of weight instead.
“The finale for the 30-day challenge, I found it funny, but at the same time, it was kind of frustrating,” Wewe said.
But fun challenges aren’t the only thing Wewe posts about online. The forward has been open about his struggles during his basketball career, something he’s proud to talk about.
During mental health awareness month this year, Wewe posted a video to Instagram featuring several Quinnipiac students with an audio playing, talking about the silent mental battles many have to go through on their own.
For Wewe, it’s important to him to balance dealing with the physical tolls of being an athlete with the mental side that may go unnoticed sometimes.
“I think the mental side is very important.You can forget about it sometimes, especially if things are going well, and then it kind of just sneaks up on you,” Wewe said. “For me that manifested in different ways. I just think it’s not spoken about enough, I think it’s important to bring awareness to that, whether you’re an athlete or not.”
Everyone has a different story, and as it turns out, Wewe isn’t the only player on the men’s basketball team who posts their basketball journey online.
Junior forward Akintola “AK” Akinniyi has been posting videos on social media for the past two years; his reason for posting ties back to his family history in Nigeria.
“Being a son of Nigerian immigrants, people from overseas, especially Nigerians will see my page. Kids in Nigeria will be like, ‘Oh I want to play basketball in America, how’d you do it?’ Just kids like me, trying to get into it,” Akinniyi said. “So whenever I saw that that interest was there, I figured I should feed the audience, I should let people in on my journey. I should let people know what fuels me, let people know about my face, let people know about what I’m doing outside of court, and just, like, what makes me, me.”
But AK couldn’t do it alone. Akinniyi jokingly said he couldn’t say it to his face, but it was actually Wewe’s videos that inspired him to start posting.
“Honestly, they inspired me to start my own web series of AK tries,” Akinniyi said. “Seeing how he was really just marketing himself really inspired me to want to take the next step as well. He makes great content, he finds a great balance and it’s something that I’ve picked his ear about. I talked to him about it, and he’s somebody that I honestly see as a guided mentor whenever it comes to this content creation.”
Both Wewe and Akinniyi show that there’s more to being a basketball player than just basketball.
Everybody has their own journey, their own successes and struggles and their own story. Wewe’s online video series shows how important it is to express yourself and prove you can have a little fun while doing so.
