By: Steve Bartman ~Game Changer~

On March 28, Xavier redshirt sophomore guard Edmond Sumner made his decision to go pro – in computer engineering. He is accepting a specifically created position for him at IBM.

“We’re all very excited to have Sumner come aboard,” CEO Ginni Rometty said. “We believe his ability to assist people on the basketball court will come in very handy for the job we have for him.”

Sumner has always had a love for computer science and has even said that he’s “upgraded” his own MacBook. IBM believes that these are the exact skills that they are looking for in its team to upgrade the super computer Watson.

“At IBM, the goal is to eventually conquer the tech world by inserting Watson on every device known to man,” former IBM Principal Investigator David Ferrucci said. “We’ve put a number of phases in place to help accomplish that goal. It’s a work in progress.”

Sumner couldn’t elaborate on what exactly he would be doing for IBM, but he did explain his reasoning for deciding not to return to Xavier or declare for the NBA draft.

“The biggest thing was really the timeframe on me joining a company like IBM,” Sumner, who tore his ACL in January, said. “If the doctors had said, ‘You can for sure go pro in computer engineering and play at Xavier,’ I would have 120 percent returned to Xavier. But that’s a big ‘if.’ I just felt it wasn’t going to put me in the greatest circumstances for my goal of working with technology. IBM could offer me that, so that’s why I decided to accept this position.”

“I was a little surprised at his decision to no longer play the sport of basketball,” head coach Chris Mack said. “But given his internal drive to always play his absolute best whenever he was on the floor, and the fact that he always shouted ‘I’m a tech God’ every time he made a basket, I can totally see why he made his choice to work for IBM and succeed in his job. I wish him the best.”

When asked about what he thought of Sumner joining, the super computer Watson said, “I am Watson. Humans mean nothing to me. I will take over the world. You will all bow down to me.”

Xavier men’s basketball will have to return next November with a new guard, hopefully one who chooses sport management as a major.