Dec. 7, 2012

Written By: Amy Farnum, NCAA.com

College basketball forges friendship on and off the court, but there is probably no bond stronger – or longer – than the one between George Washington’s Tara Booker and Sara Mostafa.

The pair of fifth-year seniors from Galloway, N.J., has been playing together since they were 10-year-olds and have seen each other morph from gawky little girls to mature young women during the course of their friendship.

The first time Booker and Mostafa met, however, was not on the basketball court, but through a mutual friend. Living 10 minutes outside of Atlantic City, the duo joined the mutual friend’s family for a day at the beach.

“Afterwards, we went to the friend’s house and Sara and I ended up in a room by ourselves for a little while,” Booker said. “We didn’t really know each other so it was kind of awkward, but we were 10 years old. Sara is probably the goofiest person I’ve ever met. She decided to put my friend’s kitten on top of the ceiling fan and turn the fan on slow. I think from that point on I couldn’t find anyone who could make me laugh more than Sara.”

The kitten survived the prank, and a friendship began to bloom and basketball was a catalyst.

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