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Future Penn State Hoops Guard Sam Sessoms Leads Protest In Philadelphia

Penn State men’s basketball transfer Sam Sessoms led a Black Lives Matter protest in his home neighborhood this week. The former Binghamton guard led a group of roughly 50 protestors for more than a mile down 52nd Street in West Philadelphia.

Before the protest began, Sessoms spoke to the media and discussed why he took action.

“At the end of the day, this shit bigger than him, this shit bigger than me,” Sessoms said. “We are doing this shit for our families to come, our families that are not here right now.”

The former Binghamton star let his peers know that they were making a positive change during a tough time.

“[For] all the bullshit they stereotype us for, at the same time we still do so much positive shit,” Sessoms said. “We’re going to see more of this shit.”

The group peacefully marched down the street, some dribbling basketballs. Sessoms led a “say his name, George Floyd” chant in solidarity with the Minneapolis resident who died as a result of police brutality on May 25.

Many current collegiate players joined Sessoms in the march. Villanova forward Dhamir Crosby-Roundtree, Rider guard Christian Ings, and Quinnipiac guard Tyree Pickron were among the protestors, all of whom graduated from local western-Philadelphia high schools.

Additionally, Sessoms’ leadership in his local community caught the attention of former men’s basketball star Lamar Stevens.

Sessoms has two years of basketball eligibility left, and will begin playing for the Nittany Lions in the 2021-2022 season due to NCAA’s transfer policy.

The Binghamton transfer was a key piece for the Bearcats over the past two seasons in the America East Conference. He won the conference’s Rookie of the Year award as a freshman and averaged 19.4 points a game as a sophomore.

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About the Author

Otis Lyons

Otis is a sophomore majoring in print journalism and is one of Onward State's associate editors. He lives just north of San Francisco, and is a diehard San Jose Earthquakes fan. Feel free to send over your soccer hot takes to his twitter @otisnlyons1 and instagram @otislyons

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