The NCAA has about 100 famous TV commercials that say, “There are over 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and most of us will be going pro in something other than sports.”

That was the case back in 1997 for a 6’5 swingman who played basketball at Alabama State, named Tauheed Epps. After two seasons of coming off the bench for the Hornets, where he played in 35 games and averaged just 2.8 points per game, Epps decided to go pro in something other than basketball: hip-hop.

Before becoming a Grammy nominated rapper, 2 Chainz (aka Tauheed Epps) was once a pretty decent NCAA college basketball player from 1995 to 1997. No lie.

Following his departure from the Alabama State basketball team, Epps began his career as a DJ and a rapper and was originally known as “Tity Boi.” Epps was signed to Ludacris’s label, Disturbing tha Peace (DTP) which is a subsidiary of Def Jam/Universal and released two albums between 2007-09.

Following mediocre results of his two albums that mimicked his basketball stats from his two seasons at Alabama State, Epps decided to re-invent himself once again and changed his name from “Tity Boi” to “2 Chainz” in 2011. A decision that has since proved wise as 2 Chainz has not only become an award-winning musician, but also a pop-culture icon, having crossed the barrier of mainstream success that few rappers have achieved. Aside from his successful music career, 2 Chainz has made numerous TV appearances, including an episode of the hit CBS show, “Two Broke Girls” and the widely popular YouTube series, “Most Expensivest,” which is now in its third season.

2 Chainz was recruited to Alabama State by Clayton Harris who is currently an assistant coach with the women’s ASU team, but also was an assistant with the men’s team back in 1994.

“I first saw him play when I was up recruiting one of his teammates named Robert Jackson,” Harris said. “His skill was unbelievable.”

Harris began to track Epps progress as a player from the time he was in 11th grade at North Clayton High School (College Park, GA), and said he was impressed with his versatility as a player. Epps was adept at playing three positions: point guard, shooting guard, and small forward.

“I know you’re going to think I’m crazy, but he reminded me of George “The Iceman” Gervin with his body type and the stuff he could do on the floor,” Harris said. “He was real slick.”

Aside from his prowess on the court, Harris spoke of 2 Chainz’s ability as a student and his family background as the other reasons he recruited him to play at Alabama State. 2 Chainz’s success later in life as a musician came as a pleasant surprise to Harris and the rest of the coaching staff at Alabama State.

“He would sometimes sing at the gym (during practice),” Harris said. “But as far as pursuing it as a career, we had no idea he was interested in music.”

The 2017 Grammy Awards take place in Los Angeles on Feb. 17 and 2 Chainz has two Grammy nominations this year for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for his verse on Chance The Rapper’s hit “No Problem,” alongside Lil Wayne.