Texas Tech newcomer has passion, aspirations for cooking after hoops

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We all have those days. You know, the ones when every action's result is an untimely payment for some unknown jinx or curse, when one small misstep leads to disaster that could seemingly spell out the end of days. Those are the days when you can't wait to get home and dive head-first into relaxation, eager to preoccupy your mind with your favorite pastimes.

And those pastimes are things we've discovered over the years through discovery, hobbies or passions that drive our creativity, activities that put us at ease. For some it might be reading a good book, while others like to take a deep dive into film. You might even keep a collection of some sorts.

For junior college transfer and new Texas Tech shooting guard Shadell Millinghaus, that pastime is cooking.

"Yeah, that's what I do," he said. "Outside of basketball, I'm a chef. My favorite dish to cook is curry chicken."

Cooking is an art. While there are countless traditional recipes from different cultures that are seemingly instruction-driven, we often forget those mainstays were the results of improvisation and an understanding of the basic building blocks that make up good dishes.

It's that creativity that drives Millinghaus' passion in the kitchen.

"I like to experiment," he said. "I like to cook goat, alligator, frogs, all that stuff. I know how to make anything taste good, so I really just like to experiment above all else."

The zeal for any hobby has to start somewhere. There's a jumping off point, a eureka moment when the joy sparks and the mind races with excitement. Millinghaus found that at home from his father, a soul food chef in the south.

"The love of cooking came from my dad," he said. "My dad opened up a restaurant out in Mississippi, and he taught me how to cook. Seeing the passion he had for cooking and stuff really just rubbed off on me. I just tried to pay attention to everything he did so I could just memorize it. That way, wherever I go I can just cook my own meals."

As a chef himself, one of Millinghaus' biggest joys in cooking is sharing his creations with those around him, specifically his Red Raider teammates.

"I just try to show these guys around here that I both know how to throw down and can feed them so they don't have to go out and eat all this fast food," Millinghaus said. "All this fast food just ain't good for you, especially when you're an athlete."

The Northwest Florida State College transfer sees another added bonus that comes with the skill that he's keeping in his back pocket for the future, too.

"Also, down the road, if I'm in the dog house, I can cook for myself. She's gonna be missing out. I'm not gonna be missing out," he said with a smile.

While cooking itself may be something a lot of us learn for fun or necessity, Millinghaus clearly sees it as much more. He's sees it as a profession for the future, one he's planning to pour his energy and drive into once his days are done on the hard court.

"That's what I want to do," he said. "After basketball, I want to make money, and I want to open up a few restaurants around different areas like Lubbock, Mississippi, Florida. You know, the places I've been. I want to open up a whole lot of different types of food spots."

Chef Millinghaus? Watch out for the name down the road.