PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The 2013 graduates of the New England Institute of Technology received their diplomas on Sunday and "15 pieces of advice I wish someone had given to me'' from actor, author and legendary National Basketball Association star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
An alternatively hilarious, mesmerizing and gentle coach, he urged them to "Play more video games ...practice yoga...rent Airplane!... [and] do not under any circumstance eat Brussel sprouts.''
On a more serious note, he quoted Einstein and Flaubert, hailed curiosity as the most important characteristic and told the students not to feel weighted down by you-are-the-future expectations and exhortations: "enjoy who you are right now and the tremendous accomplishments we are here to celebrate.''
The college planned to award associate, bachelor's or master's degrees to 1,192 students, after awarding honorary doctor of humane letters degrees to Abdul-Jabbar and Rhode Island businessman and civic activist John Hazen White, Jr., the president of Taco, Inc.
A list of New England Tech graduates will be at: to www.neit.edu
Abdul-Jabbar played in the NBA for 20 years for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers and is its all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points, according to the school.
Born and raised in Harlem, he has also written books on subjects as varied as World War II, the Harlem Renaissance basketball team, and the impact of African-American inventors and won 2013 NAACP Image Awards for his documentary, On the Shoulders of Giants, and a children's book he co-authored called What Color is My World. .