God speed!
Pa Mambuna

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Published Friday, July 9, 1999, in the Herald-Leader

Another Senegal prospect hits scene

This is the third in a series of articles from this summer's high school
basketball camps.

By Jerry Tipton
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

TEANECK, N.J. -- Bad news looms for Ralph Hacker. Kentucky basketball's radio announcer struggled to pronounce freshman Souleymane ``Jules''' Camara's name last season. At times, it sounded like UK had a car, a Chevy Camaro, on its front line.

Now the Cats have another native of Senegal -- with a name even more difficult to pronounce -- on their recruiting list. He's Abdou Diame (pronounced Ab-DUE Ja-MAY). ``In French, `d-i' is pronounced as `j,' '' he explained yesterday at the Adidas ABCD Camp.

Bad news for Hacker might be good news for UK fans. Diame's game suggests that Senegal stamps out prospects from the same mold. Like Camara, he is a long (6-foot-9), lean (195 pounds) and quick-jumping athlete. Also like Camara, Diame is soft-spoken, polite, friendly and a quick study. He did not speak a word of English when he arrived in the nited States in September. Yet he deftly entertained questions from reporters for 15 minutes yesterday.

``Back home, everybody says, `He's another Jules,' '' Diame said. ``In the post, we have the same moves.''

 But Diame declines to rate himself equal to Camara.

Recruiting analysts have no such problem. ``He has amazing upside potential,''
Future Stars analyst Van Coleman said. ``If you're going to recruit a kid that's
athletic, will block shots and play up-tempo basketball, he's a guy you have to
look at.''

Added sportswriter Frank Burlison of the Long Beach (Calif.) Telegram: ``He
seems a little more basketball-skilled (than Camara).''

Steve Smith, who coached first Camara and then Diame for Oak Hill
Academy, saw both as athletic players who improved rapidly. He said Diame
was more effective than Camara facing the basket. Diame averaged 16 points,
10 rebounds, two steals, three assists and five blocks for Oak Hill last season.

Diame and Camara have become good friends. Camara is from the capital city
of Dakar. Diame is from Thies, about an hour's drive from Dakar.

``He talks to me all the time,'' Diame said. ``Because he's a nice guy. He's like
my brother here. He's helped me a lot.''

Diame expects Camara to visit him at Oak Hill next week. But whether Diame
will follow Camara to UK is no sure thing.

``I don't know,'' Diame said. ``I'm just going where I think it is best.''

Smith saw Diame having links to three colleges. There's Camara at Kentucky.
And former Oak Hill teammates Steve Blake and Travis Watson are at
Maryland and Virginia, respectively.

Diame is the third native of Senegal to play for Oak Hill Academy. He
followed Camara and Mahktar N'diaye, who later played for Michigan and North Carolina.

A fourth Senegalese player is headed to Oak Hill this fall. He's Jine Diop (pronounced ``Jop'').

Smith sounded eager to add to the list of Senegal players.

"They're very coachable,'' he said. ``They appreciate everything you do for
them. They haven't been through the AAU where you get spoiled and catered
to. When you give them their first pair of shoes, they don't ask for a second
pair. They're thankful for the first pair.''

Senegal native Amadou Fall, a scout with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, is Oak
Hill's contact with players from the northwest African nation.

``Out of the blue, he called and wanted to know if I was interested in taking a
kid,'' Smith said. That kid was N'diaye.

Now, Oak Hill takes Fall's players sight unseen. ``I know Amadou knows
what he's looking for,'' Smith said.

Of course, it's not so easy for the players. When he came to Oak Hill, Diame
did not count English among the six languages he spoke (French, Spanish,
Arabic and three native tongues).

``I know it's not easy, but the world is not easy,'' Diame said of coming to the
United States. ``If you want something, you have to make sacrifices.''

Diame's desire to be a basketball player has its limits. He intends to strictly
follow the tenets of Islam. So although he'll need to add bulk and strength, he
expects to continue to observe the fasting associated with the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan.

``I just don't want to change,'' he said. ``What I am, I don't want to change.''