Maurice Ndour made a name for himself playing for the Ohio Bobcats last year. Now he has a chance to play on an even bigger stage with and against current and future NBA players.
Ohio announced that Ndour will be playing for the Senegalese National Team in the first ever 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup held in Spain at six different locations. Think of it as the World Cup of soccer, but basketball style.
Senegal will play in Group B along with Argentina, Croatia, Greece, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. Here's the schedule for Senegal in Group B play:
Date | Opponent | Time |
August 30 | Greece | 4:00 pm |
August 31 | Puerto Rico | 1:30 pm |
September 1 | Croatia | 6:30 am |
September 3 | Argentina | 1:30 pm |
September 4 | Philippines | 8:00 am |
Ndour and his Senegal team will be facing some tough competition. Of course Argentina has a boatload of NBA talent in Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Pablo Prigioni. Puerto Rico also has some NBA guys with Jose Juan Barea, Renaldo Balkman and Carlos Arroyo. Croatia had a couple guys just drafted into the NBA as well in Dario Saric and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Ohio forward exploded onto the MAC scene during the 2013-2014 season after transferring from Monroe College. Ndour averaged fourteen points and seven rebounds per game and earned Second-Team All-MAC. His senior season promises to be a special one, where he'll be asked to lead a young Bobcats squad to yet another top-three finish.
But for now, his focus is on the rest of the world. "For me, this is just a blessing," Ndour said in a press release. "I can remember being young and playing basketball in Senegal. All the guys would tell me, ‘Keep playing hard, we hope to see you on the national team some day.' When I first got the call, it was just overwhelming because I was so happy. I'm so proud and excited to represent my country."
It'll be an awesome experience for the senior forward and can really help him out when the MAC season starts to roll around.