In college, Usman wrestled in Iowa at William Penn University for one year, where he was an NAIA national tournament qualifier in 2007, but was unable to attend the tournament due to a snowstorm; half of his team and his head coach, however, left early for the tournament without him, which frustrated Usman and influenced him to leave William Penn. He later transferred to the University of Nebraska at Kearney (Unk), which previously tried to recruit him under advisement of then-Unk wrestler Tervel Dlagnev, and subsequently helped the Lopers win their first-ever team title in 2008.