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The journey of Adama Sanogo, the boy from Mali who washed cars and became a basketball player in the United States despite fasting

2023-04-05T09:49:49.219Z


Until he was 14 he wanted to be a soccer player but his height took him out of Africa and led him to the NCAA where he was champion and figure in the middle of Ramadan.


To speak of "March Madness" in the United States, or its translation

"March Madness"

, is to speak of the largest and most popular college basketball tournament, a sudden death competition between

68 teams in search of a national champion

.

It takes place throughout that month and is one of the favorite annual sporting events of the American public, with massive calls and record ratings.

This year, the

final four

was played at the

NRG in Houston

, an American football stadium, and the figure was a boy from

Mali

, a young man who until a few years ago earned his living washing cars.

Adama Sanogo

was born 21 years ago in Bamako, the capital of this East African nation, which gained independence from France in 1960 but has historically been in political turmoil and mired in poverty.

The last decade has not escaped this trend: in 2012 a civil war broke out and since 2021 its president is a 39-year-old soldier who carried out a coup against the previous government, also de facto, and who had him as vice president.

For all this, the idea of ​​a better future for Adama was the same as that of many young people in that land: take advantage of their physical virtues, get a scholarship to study abroad, generally in France, and graduate.

Imposing view of NRG Stadium in Houston, where the NCAA national championship was defined.

Photo: Logan Riely/Getty Images/AFP.

His first impulse was always football, a discipline in which he took advantage of his surprising height positioned as a central defender and imitating the "idols" of his team, a team hurt by defeats, with just three podiums in the African Cup of Nations and none world experience.

In 2005, Las Águilas were left at the gates of Germany 2006: a goal by Togo at the last minute left them without a cup and unleashed a wave of incidents throughout the city.

While he dreamed of dribbling and goals, Adama contributed to the family economy by working with his six brothers in the car wash that his parents had set up.

In the rainy season they took them to the fields to grow corn.

The premise of that home was to work, study and look for another future.

The opportunity of his life ended up coming to him as if it were part of the script for "Garra" that (very good) Adam Sandler movie that is available on Netflix: a talent scout detected his 2-meter height kicking a ball, encouraged him to play basketball and shortly thereafter an uncle got him an opening at a

New York

high school .

It was so that the Malian boy packed his suitcase and went alone to try his luck in the United States, at the age of 14, to stay in a family home.

In addition to the Bambara

language

of Mali, he spoke French and Arabic but not a word of English.

After a tough first year, as he himself later recognized, he managed to adapt and did very well both on the field and with his books, getting several universities to go in search of him: the chosen one was UCONN of Connecticut, and in his

third

year As a player for the Huskies, he established himself as a great figure and national champion, making all the eyes of the USA now rest on his 2.06-meter height.

Adama Sanogo and his high school diploma.

Photo: Instagram.

The numbers, that factor that decides everything at these levels of competition, account for a superlative performance by the young African: in the final against San Diego he had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

But during the previous five games he accumulated an average of 20.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 68% shooting from the field, matching statistics of old glories like Hakeem

Olajuwon

or

Christian Laettner

.

But in addition to playing against other rival teams, Adama had to face an extra rival: hunger.

On March 22, the month of Ramadan began and both the young basketball player and two other Muslim companions were forced to fast from food and liquids from sunrise to sunset.

In one of the games, against Miami, he only had 10 minutes to drink coconut water and energy bars.

In another knockout phase, against Gonzaga, he was only able to eat some bananas and oranges at halftime: his team went from winning by 7 to finishing with an advantage of 28.

"I've been doing this since I was 14 years old, I think I play better when I'm fasting," Sanogo said, adding: "I feel a little lighter without eating anything all day, so I can run a little faster."

Adama Sanogo displays a level of discipline and mentality that brings him closer to the NBA.

Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images/AFP.

The young man also recognized that after the frustrations of the last two tournaments, this year he seriously considered not giving advantages with food and not complying with Ramadan.

It helped him to investigate the experience of the aforementioned Olajuwon, who was able to do it without lowering his performance."That's one of the reasons why I'm doing it. If he did it, why can't I do it?", He explained .

The nutritionists on the team kept an eye on his health, waking him up at 4am, before dawn, so he would eat enough to last 16 hours without drinking or eating.

Everyone was surprised by the level of discipline, his good attitude and his physical response.

As much or more important than his aim with the baskets, these attributes seem to ensure a near future in the NBA.

Adama Sanogo, an interior with a lot of prominence under the post, who will have to polish off his defects but has everything given to reach the NBA.

Photo: AP Photo/David J. Phillip.

"I owe this success to my family, they are everything to me. All the effort I make is thinking of them," he declared after being consecrated and receiving the MOP (most outstanding

player

) award, the version of the MVP in university terms.

Adama is on his way to being an elite athlete and is clear about his goals in professional basketball.

On the one hand, he wants to improve the quality of life of his family, who continues to live in Africa, and on the other, he is already working on a project linked to opening schools in his country to promote education and sports.

"My mission has always been to lead my team, inspire young children to pursue their dreams and give back to my community," says the boy from Mali.


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Source: clarin

All news articles on 2023-04-05

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