IN: Odom was born in South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, to Joe Odom and Cathy Mercer. His father was a heroin addict, and Odom's mother died of colon cancer when he was twelve years old. At her deathbed, Odom's mom told him: "Be nice to everybody". Afterwards, he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mildred Mercer.

Odom contemplated entering the NBA directly out of high school, and consulted with Bryant, who had made the jump a year earlier. He decided he was not ready, and decided to attend the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. However, after a Sports Illustrated report questioned his unexpectedly high score of 22 out of 36 in the ACT, the school released him in July 1997 before he ever played a game for them. That same summer, he received a citation for soliciting prostitution following an undercover operation by the Las Vegas police. Later, an NCAA inquiry found Odom received payments amounting to $5,600 from booster David Chapman. Coach Bill Bayno was fired and UNLV was placed on probation for four years.  Odom transferred to the University of Rhode Island but was forced to sit out the 1997-98 season. He was admitted as a non-matriculating student, and was not allowed to play intramural basketball. His room and board was paid for by his father, who was covered by the G.I. Bill. After two semesters and a summer session, Odom earned his eligibility to play basketball. His career at Rhode Island had been in jeopardy after the first semester, when he vanished before finals. However, Rhode Island coach Jim Harrick persuaded three of his four instructors to allow him to make up his work. The coach also had Odom work with DeGregorio, who had become a Rams assistant and was the player's closest friend in college. Odom was also inspired by his maternal grandmother, a nurse who had raised five children and returned to school to earn her degree in 1980 at age 56.  Odom played one season for the Rams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, where he averaged 17.6 points per game and led the Rams to the conference championship in 1999. He earned first-team all-conference honors and was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. He was named the most valuable player of the Atlantic 10 Tournament after his three-pointer against Temple University at the buzzer gave the Rams their first A-10 Tournament title.

How did this affect his carreer?

OUT: After two semesters and a summer session, Odom earned his eligibility to play basketball.


IN: Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, actor, and author, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the bands Slipknot and Stone Sour. Taylor formed Stone Sour in 1992, playing in the Des Moines area, and working on a demo. He joined Slipknot in 1997 to replace their original vocalist and has subsequently released five studio albums with them. After the first two Slipknot albums went Platinum, Taylor revived Stone Sour to record an album and tour in 2002.

Corey Todd Taylor was born on December 8, 1973 in Des Moines, Iowa. He was mostly raised by his single mother in Waterloo, Iowa, a place described by Taylor as a "hole in the ground with buildings around it". He is of Irish, German and Native American descent on his father's side, and Dutch and Irish on his mother's side. In 1979, Taylor and his mother saw the sci-fi series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Before the series, there was a trailer for the 1978 horror film Halloween. Taylor said this "developed some sense of Slipknot in [himself]". While Halloween introduced Taylor to masks and horror themes, Taylor's grandmother introduced him to rock music, showing him a collection of Elvis Presley records from the 1950s to 1970s. He especially found songs like "Teddy Bear", "In the Ghetto", and "Suspicious Minds" to appeal to his interests the most, describing them as "good times". Taylor also began listening to Black Sabbath at a young age, beginning with their early work.  Taylor, along with his mother and sister, lived at one point in an "old dilapidated farmhouse" which on days in late autumn would "look like Black Sabbath album covers". By age 15, he had developed a drug addiction and had overdosed on cocaine twice. By this time, he was living in Waterloo, but later set out on his own and ended up at his grandmother's house in Des Moines. She took legal custody of him so that he could continue going to school, and she helped him buy musical equipment. When Taylor was 18, he left his grandmother's house and went to various places in Iowa, Des Moines being a place to which he frequently returned.  In 2017, on an episode of Viceland's The Therapist, Taylor revealed that he was sexually assaulted at the age of 10 by a 16-year-old friend. Taylor stated that he never told anyone about the incident until he was "probably 18" because his abuser "threatened to hurt [him] and threatened to hurt [his] mom". At age 18, when Taylor was living with his grandmother, he attempted suicide by way of overdose. His ex-girlfriend's mother drove him to the hospital in Des Moines and doctors were able to resuscitate him. He describes this as the lowest point in his life. Taylor first met his father when he was 30 years old, and now has a relationship with him, although he said their paths do not cross that often.

What has he done in personal life?

OUT:
By age 15, he had developed a drug addiction and had overdosed on cocaine twice.