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I was born in Volta Redonda, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil on January 8, 1985. My parents
are Silvio and Solange Passos and my two older brothers
Livio and Alessandro. I grew up playing soccer on a club
team. My cousin Fred got me interested in soccer and we
used to play at home for fun. When I was 13, I started
playing basketball. I played on a team called
Continental for 2 years. I then changed teams and played
for 2 years on a team called Hebraica and we won a
championship. Next, I had the opportunity to come to the
United States and play high school basketball my junior
year. After talking to my parents and friends, I decided
to move to North Carolina when I was 17 years old. I
attended Laurinburg Prep School in Laurinburg, North
Carolina. High school was a good experience for me
because I had never been to the United States but I had
a difficult time understanding people because I did not
speak any English. After I graduated from high school, I
was invited to attend ABCD camp in New Jersey. I also
had to choose the college where I wanted to play
basketball. I got offers from Mississippi State,
University of Kentucky, University of South Caroline,
Ohio State, and a few other colleges. I chose Dixie
State College in St. George, Utah because I still
learning how to speak English and some of my Brazilian
friends who played basketball went there as well. After
playing there for a year, I transferred to University of
Arkansas-Fort Smith in Fort Smith, Arkansas for my
sophomore year. My team won Regionals and NJCAA
Nationals. I was named MVP at both tournaments. I then
transferred to New Mexico State University where I
played Division I basketball for the first time. My
coach was Reggie Theus, a previous NBA player who taught
me many good things about basketball. We won the WAC
conference my junior year and made it to the first round
of the NCAA tournament, where we lost against Texas. My
senior year, we got a new coach names Marvin Menzies. We
lost the WAC conference championship game to Boise State.
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