Basketball Kult-Profi Zac Seljaas
“I like being ugly”
Status: 20.03.2024 | Reading time: 3 minutes
When he came to Würzburg, everyone just called him the “mullet man”. Zac Seljaas didn’t even know what that meant at first
Source: picture alliance/Eibner-Pressefoto/Daniel REINELT
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With his mullet hairstyle, the American Zac Seljaas is the most striking professional in the BBL. His wife can now also get used to it. But the Würzburg Baskets forward is also playing really well and is on course for the play-offs with his team.
When he was in college, Zac Seljaas got a new haircut every year. Side parting, machine cut, blonde streaks – he tested everything out. “I was very keen to experiment,” says the American from Utah. “When we made it to the second division play-offs with Tübingen last year, I wanted to try something crazy. Something that stands out. So I had a ‘mullet’ cut, as we call it in America.” That means: short in the front, stubbly at the top, the sides shaved, long in the back.
When he told his wife Kate about his plan, she initially thought it was a joke. Then she tried to change her husband’s mind – in vain. “Aside from my wife, a lot of other people thought my hairstyle was really ugly,” says Seljaas. “But that just spurred me on even more and I wanted that hairstyle even more. I think that’s cool, I like being ugly,” says the 26-year-old and laughs.
Last summer Seljaas changed clubs – but not his haircut. “When I came to Würzburg, everyone just called me the mullet man,” he says. “At first I didn’t even know what that meant. I didn’t know the German expression. Then I thought it was funny and let the hair grow further on top and back. I wanted to continue being the mullet man. Now the haircut is my distinguishing feature. He belongs to me. I don’t want to change that either. I will wear a mullet as long as I play basketball.” He also doesn’t want to part with the mustache that he has had since his college days.
Seljaas’ sons also wear mullets
Seljaas is cult in Würzburg. Because of him, many fans come to the games wearing mullet wigs. At the carnival Frankenderby against Bamberg (104:65), spectators in the hall were able to get a mullet haircut for free.
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Seljaas’ wife now even shaves his hair every now and then. The two sons Royce (3) and Björn (2) also wear mullets. Seljaas is also having T-shirts produced with his picture on them, which will be released next month.
What should boost sales: Seljaas is much more than a hairstyle model – he also plays basketball really well. This season, the two-meter-tall winger is averaging 13.6 points (27th place in the easyCredit BBL) and 6.4 rebounds (7th place). Most recently, he scored 30 points in the 96:76 win with his Würzburg Baskets at EWE Baskets Oldenburg. Five of his six three-point throws landed on target.
Seljaas in the BBL match at the Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. Following his role model Derrick Rose (formerly Chicago, now Memphis), he plays with number 1
Source: picture alliance/Fotostand/Nieweler
“I bring energy to the field, both at the back and at the front,” says Seljaas. Thanks to him, Würzburg, which was eleventh in the previous season, is in fourth place with 18 wins and six defeats. “We want to get into the play-offs, and then anything is possible – including the championship title,” he says.
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Should the sensation occur – Seljaas would only toast with water, because as a Mormon he adheres to strict rules. “We don’t drink alcohol, coffee or tea,” he says. “If we have something to celebrate with the team, I am the perfect driver to bring the others home. But I can also have fun sober.”
Because of his faith, Seljaas took a two-year break from basketball while attending Brigham Young University in Utah. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent him to serve missions in Iowa. “You leave your previous life behind and have no contact with your family,” he says. “We walked around knocking on doors and trying to spread the spirit of Jesus Christ. This time was a blessing in my life and helped me to be who I am now.”
