Brilliant during March Madness, the American university basketball tournament, Malian pivot from Connecticut Adama Sanogo has the opportunity to make history this weekend and perhaps become the first player from his country to win one of the most watched competitions in the United States. Arrived on this side of the Atlantic as a teenager, the native of Bamako always wants more, and aims for the heights. Portrait of one of the greatest hopes of African basketball.
Saturday March 25. 8:40 p.m., T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In the middle of the field, hilarious, Adama Sanogo answers the questions of the reporter of CBS Sport, one of the national television networks, after helping his Connecticut team to crush one of the favorites of the tournament, Gonzaga (82-54) . The university based in Storrs, about 150 kilometers north of New York, has been creating a sensation since the start of the university final tournament, and its Malian interior is rocking the boat, and is positioning itself as a favorite to be voted the competition’s best player. But to get there, the young hopeful of the African continent has worked hard, determined to succeed, for his country and his family.
Born in Bamako in 2002
Adama Sanogo was born in Bamako in 2002, and grew up in a modest environment with his sister and brother. His parents, Cheick Na and Awa, work hard to support the family, and the young Adama, a football lover, turns to basketball, and catches the eye of recruiters in 2016, during a camp organized by Cheick Diallo, the former NBA player passed by the New Orleans Pelicans. ” He already had something special for a youngster of just 14 », recalls Tidiane Dramé, his mentor, « I therefore invited him to the camp of my Mali Hope foundation, so that they could rub shoulders with other talents, and he was able to demonstrate the extent of his potential: he was running everywhere, he was playing hard, and he was already feeling the game really well. Adama had to look elsewhere, and try it on the other side of the Atlantic “.
From the end of 2017, Dramé took Sanogo under his wing and sent his young compatriot to the United States, to Centereach, about sixty kilometers from New York, to evolve at Our Savior New American high school, where plays Jonathan Kuminga, the young Congolese currently at the Golden State Warriors. This Catholic institution has one of the best basketball teams in the country, and Sanogo adapts very quickly to his new life.
” I was still very young, but I knew that this opportunity could change my life “, specifies the young pivot. “ So I set out to work hard and give the maximum to succeed, having the motivation of my family back home and my desire to write my own story, to live my American dream. “. After two years in high school, he receives a few offers from universities, and decides to join Connecticut, one of the most prestigious in the country, in 2020. Sanogo is expected there as a complementary player, but the Malian is an ambitious player.
The title as a goal, then the NBA in sight
From the first weeks at UConn, Sanogo impressed, and took the place of Josh Carlton, the pivot holder, in the five major. “ As soon as I got here, I got into “assignment“, I wanted to show what I was capable of without waiting “, he says. Neither one nor two, he becomes one of the favorites of the fans, who love his fighting spirit, but also his velvet hands, he who has an offensive arsenal to make the best interiors in the country green.
In his first season, he helped his team win 25 games. In his second year on campus, he upped his game again, and was selected to the all-star team for the Big East, one of the most competitive conferences in the country. After a premature elimination during March Madness 2022, Sanogo returns to the country for a bit during the summer to see his family, recharge his batteries and organize a basketball camp. “ It did me a lot of good, and I came back earlier than expected to get back to work and prepare for the 2022-2023 season as well as possible.he says. I always want more, and always keep progressing”.
“That’s all Adamasmiles Drame, he is hungry, he wants to succeed and puts everything on his side to move forward and become the best player possible. He will always be the first to come to training, the last to leave. He works overtime at the gym all the time! “.
Elected in the best five of his conference
During the current season, he explodes everything in his path. He was elected in the best five of his conference, and remains in the race to be voted the best pivot in the country. He is also the favorite to be named March Madness MVP, averaging 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists per game since the start of the tournament, with UConn dominating head and shoulders. The major American media (ESPN, CBS Sports) talk about him, but the Malian hopeful wants the title of champion.
” We have a date with history on Saturday against Miami in the semi-finals. I want to bring the title home, and I have already prepared my Malian flag in my suitcase, he smiled, I want to win for my country, for Africa and continue my way “. Next stop: the NBA. Legend Shaquille O’Neal says he ” eat everyone in the racket “, and many are the scouts who follow closely what the Malian achieves in this holy month of university basketball. “ It’s all good, but many NBA scouts come for information, and really like what they see. “Confirms Dramé, serene for the future of his foal, who should see his name called next June during the next Draft.