By Jerry Durney
No Panther better embodies Florida Tech Athletics’ mission to be “scholars, champions and leaders” than women’s basketball guard Farah Shaaban ’24.
Shaaban’s journey began in Cairo, a place not generally known for women’s basketball. As it turns out, it was a bit of family heritage in the sport that may have ultimately pushed her toward the hardwood.
“My grandma played basketball; my parents weren’t really into it, but she was,” Shaaban says. “I started when I was about 5 and found my calling. I just enjoyed it.”
Shaaban came to America, initially spending two years at St. Louis Community College. After that, an early morning call from Panthers women’s basketball head coach John Reynolds was all she needed to decide that she wanted to be at Florida Tech.
“Coach Reynolds called me at 3 in the morning my time—I was still awake,” Shaaban recalls. “I thought, ‘If I’m up at 3, and he gives me a call, this has to be a sign.”
While Reynolds and the program had indeed sold Shaaban on Florida Tech, she also had an eye on life after basketball. Another childhood passion of hers was aeronautics.
“I love airplanes,” she says. “I love designing them and would make small models all the time when I was young.”
She transitioned to Florida Tech following advice of fellow Egyptian scholar-athletes.
“We have Division I athletes that go from Egypt, come to the U.S. and get this great opportunity. They talk about how demanding it is and how elite it is compared to what we do back home,” Shaaban says. “I was very intrigued, and the U.S. is also well known for aerospace. So, I thought Tech could be a great fit for me.”
Switching schools while being several thousands of miles away from home was a lot for Shaaban, especially as a walk-on during her first two seasons with the team.
“There were definitely times where I was like, ‘What am I even doing?’ And I had to adjust very quickly,” Shaaban says. “But I had a great team. When I came here, they were all very supportive, and I was able to find myself within the team.”
In her spare time, Shaaban worked with the athletics department’s gameday operations, in Florida Tech’s information technology (IT) office and as a resident assistant. She saw these as opportunities to gradually prepare for the workforce and enhance her leadership capabilities.
“When I came here first semester, I just went to class and played basketball; that was it, really,” she says. “After that, I thought to myself, ‘I have time for one more thing,’ and that’s when I picked up IT. That allowed me to grow in terms of understanding software better, as well as helping people around campus. It also improved my communication skills drastically between my first semester and my second semester because I just had to communicate all the time with people.”
Shaaban was a champion defender on the court, often winning battles for loose balls, even if it meant putting her body on the line.
“She’s as unselfish as possible,” Reynolds says. “If we’re in practice, and we’ve got a couple of players out, she’ll play in the paint. If we need somebody to handle the ball, she’ll handle the ball. If you need somebody to guard the best guard on the other team, she will be that player that comes in and gets after it.”
Ahead of the 2023-24 season, Shaaban was named a team captain.
“I just want to lead by example. If they see me doing what they need to be doing for us to win, than that’s a win for me. Not just for the team, but I’ve helped someone reach their goal, as well.”
FARAH SHAABAN ’24
“I just want to lead by example,” she says. “If they see me doing what they need to be doing for us to win, then that’s a win for me. Not just for the team, but I’ve helped someone reach their goal, as well.”
After graduating at spring commencement, Shaaban has remained in Melbourne. But now, the girl who grew up putting together Lego airplanes is in the real world of aviation, working for Piper Aircraft Inc., where she had previously interned.
“It’s going well; I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I’m designing, which I’ve always wanted to do,” she says. “It’s a learning experience. I learn something new every day.”
What stands out most about Shaaban, Reynolds says, is that she is more than the sum of what she does.
“I think that the most important part about her is that all things she does are things that go unnoticed unless you’re with that kind of kid every day,” he says. “All those things are complementary to what we’ve talked about with her, and she’s a better human being than all of those things together.”
This piece was featured in the spring 2024 edition of Florida Tech Magazine.
