Every week leading up to the reveal of the nominees for the Class of 2020 for the Ultimate Hoops Hall of Fame, we’ll feature a possible candidate for the upcoming induction class. None of these articles will focus on anyone who has already been nominated for the Hall of Fame but has yet to be inducted. If you want to learn more about those candidates, you can visit the Hall of Fame section of our blog.

Today we’re focusing on UH Minnesota veteran Ahmed Helmy.

The case for Helmy

Helmy has been a mainstay in UH Minnesota since the Summer of 2011, often playing in both Bloomington South and Fridley in seasons since then. That has gotten him to 626 career games, which is the ninth-most in UH history. He’s also compiled 4,503 rebounds (seventh-most in UH) and 479 blocks (10th-most in UH).

He’s been a solid player throughout his career, averaging 11.8 points and 7.2 rebounds on 46% shooting from the field and 36% from deep. His best assets as a player are showcased in Bloomington South with the Guerrillas, as he can post up and kick to the many shooters they typically have, and he can execute perfect pick n’ pops or dribble handoffs with Bryant Marmol and their other guards/wings. This has turned into six titles for the Guerrillas, four of which came in combined rec tournaments.

His other two championships were won in different roles. He won a title as a player for The Originals in Fridley in the Summer of 2018, and in the Summer of 2019, he won the Dream League as the GM of the Pilots. He was a participant in all four seasons of the Dream League, two as a GM and two as a player. In his two seasons as a GM, he had a record of 31-10, made it to the Finals in both seasons and won a championship.

He’s had an impact off the court too, helping contribute to media in UH Minnesota throughout the years. His most notable addition to Minnesota Rec as a contributor were his “Helmy Awards” articles, which he would hand out every season. I was somehow able to find one of them, and I highly recommend reading it.

And I would be foolish to not mention the most iconic moment in his entire UH career. In a pool play game of the 2016 Las Vegas National Tournament, Helmy got Mychel Thompson (Klay’s brother) ejected in a triple overtime thriller between SoCal select and Rec City. Thompson was having a good game (20 points and six rebounds on 9-13 shooting) and Helmy had the presence of mind to piss him off beyond belief, getting them both ejected in crunch time of a crucial game. SoCal Select still came away with a 96-89 win, but Helmy was a key reason that game was able to get to three overtimes and it was a Hall of Fame trash talk moment.

The case against Helmy

Just like with anyone else in Minnesota, there’s a lot of candidates who are also deserving to be considered. Six people affiliated with UH Minnesota have been inducted, three others have been nominated previously and this is the fourth article I’ve written about the possibility of someone from UH Minnesota getting nominated this year. There’s not enough room for all of them this year, and it’s unclear how long that logjam will take to clear up.

Helmy does have the advantage of being a jack of all trades in UH Minnesota. There aren’t many people who have excelled at playing, being a GM and a media associate. It all adds up to an impressive resume worthy of being displayed on a Hall of Fame banner. We’ll see how long it takes before it’s hanging in the rafters of Bloomington South or Fridley.