Nicholson Pavilion crowds have had a special opportunity to witness what soon could be a historic season for the Central men’s basketball team and their 6 foot 7-inch forward and shot-blocking specialist, junior forward Joseph Stroud.

Stroud, who is within reach of Central’s single season shot-block record, has been an intimidating presence to opposing teams.

Stroud has stacked up shot block after shot block on his way to being the nation’s seventh ranked shot blocker, both in total blocks, (65) and blocks per game (2.9).

Stroud’s mother, Sherry Stroud, points out that the individual awards do not mean as much to him as the success of his team.

“Joe has been such a humble kid his whole life,” Sherry Stroud said. “After games growing up I would tell him how he had a great game, and he would just tell me ‘No, Mom. The team had a great game.’ Joe never wants the spotlight on him he wants to make sure his team gets attention.”

Basketball has played a key role in Stroud’s life, presenting opportunities as well as presenting him with an avenue to keep him out of trouble growing up.

“Basketball was everything to me growing up,” Stroud said. “Basketball kept me out of trouble. When there was nothing to do in the house, we would just go out and play basketball. Every Sunday that’s just what we did, ball was life.”

Sherry agrees somewhat with Stroud’s assessment of growing up but has a different view on the time.

“Ball wasn’t completely life,” Sherry Stroud said. “Because there was school work that had to be done, but after school work was finished then, yes, ball was a big part of his life.”

Sherry also attributes much of who Joseph is as a person to his upbringing with a strong family support group and the church.

She also points out that while Stroud is humble and quiet, he is also incredibly funny.

“It was a team effort raising Joe,” Sherry said. “He’s been a good and humble kid, but there has been some funny moments with Joe because he’s quiet. He’ll do these funny things that are totally out of character. One night we were sitting in a church service and Joe had decided he wanted to go home, so to get my attention he started saying ‘Mommy, Mama, Mom,’ like the baby on Family Guy. Everyone around us was just cracking up because you never expect that because Joe is so quiet.”

Joseph did not always want to leave church early, because church was important to him. Not only was Stroud’s grandfather the pastor of a church, but Joseph was a drummer for the church growing up.

“Joseph was the church drummer,” Sherry said. “Joseph’s uncle Shannon taught Joe’s brother, and Joe’s brother taught Joe. They played the drums until his brother went off to college and then Joe, being the humble guy that he is, taught other kids at the church to play the drums.”

Joseph attributes so much of who he is to the church group around him.

“The church and my family have been such an amazing support system,” Stroud said. “Every Sunday we went to church at least once or twice. After we would go to family gatherings, dinners, parties; church was a big role in my life and who I am.”

Basketball has also played a role in Joseph’s life, as coaches have helped to mentor and influence him along his path. Stroud played high school basketball at Rainer Beach under Coach Mike Bethea for three years.

Coach Dawson saw a lot of potential for Joseph and expected big things from the quiet young man.

“Joe was raised well and has always shown great character,” Dawson said. “Yes he had God given talent, but it’s his character that makes a great teammate. He was an integral part of getting us turned back around with a young team of freshmen, he never had an ego and was always humble and His humility is even better than his ability.”

After a season at Central Arizona College, Joseph decided to return to play basketball closer to home at Highline Community College.

There, Stroud was coached by Che Dawson, who helped Joseph develop more than just his shot blocking.

“Coach Dawson played a big role in my maturity,” Stroud said. “Coach was always in my ear and because Coach Dawson is a lawyer, you just know that you’ll never be able to win an argument against him. So all I could do was just listen, and I started to hear him and all his good advice and he really pushed me to work harder in and outside of practice; and more importantly, he pushed me in the classroom and showed me how valuable a college education is, and not to just worry about basketball.”

After his time at Highline, Joseph decided that, the best fit for him in his next step in life was to come to Central.

“I really came to Central because of the feeling I got when I was here and how close it was to home. I just felt comfortable here,” Stroud said.

As Stroud nears the single season shot block record, he doesn’t let the record or the pressure affect him or his play on the floor.

“It’s hard to not think about the pressure,” Stroud said. “But I do my best with it, because when I come into the games all I am thinking about is helping my teammates, and that’s the best thing when dealing with the pressure. I’m doing it with my teammates, my friends, my brothers out there, and as long as I know that then I’m okay because I’m not chasing this record alone.”