Yao Ming says it was tiring being back in the classroom

Shanghai, Nov 8, 2011 (AFP) - Chinese basketball star Yao Ming returned to school this week to study for a university degree, but he admitted it was tiring being back in the classroom after more than a decade on the court.

The former Houston Rockets player attended his first classes at Shanghai’s prestigious Jiaotong University on Monday with a schedule that included maths, English and modern Chinese history, state media said Tuesday.

The 31-year-old, China’s first global sports superstar with a personal brand valued at more than $1 billion, announced his retirement in July due to injury.

"I feel good today, but a little bit tired since I have not been in class for over 10 years. I am rusty," Yao was quoted as saying by the state-run Global Times.

Yao, who is looking to earn an undergraduate degree in economics and management, said he had chosen to go to university rather than hire private tutors because he wanted "to feel the atmosphere on campus".

He is balancing his classwork with running a Chinese basketball team — the Shanghai Sharks — and a jam-packed schedule of public appearances.

"I’ve got other things to do and I need to balance my time," the official Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

Yao’s appearance on campus caused "chaos" as students snapped photos and sought autographs, but Yao will take several of his classes as one-on-one tutorials with professors to avoid disrupting normal university life.

"It’s an honour to be in school with Yao, but I doubt we will see him often," Zhu Lei, a 20-year-old accounting student, told the Global Times.

"He will be having one-on-one lectures. What a shame, it would be nice if we got to be in the same class."

Yao had previously enrolled at the university, but his academic career was halted when he headed to the United States to play in the National Basketball Association from the 2002 season.

© Copyright (c) AFP, Photograph by: Aly Song, REUTERS

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