One of college basketball’s most prized freshmen is interested in analytics and consideওred g꧂oing to Harvard.
His favorite classes are personal finance and the black power movement, and one of his favorite books is “Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA” by Ben Strauss and Joe Nocera. He visited the Great Wall of China as part of a community service project connected to his high school that included working with migrant children, shoveling coal and helping to run basketball clinics, a✨nd he would like to become an NBA global ambassador one day.
Meet Mohamed Bamba, the University of Texas’s Renaissan🐈ce Man, a 6-foot-11 center from Harlem and projected top-five pick in June’s NBA draft who is as unique as he is gifted.
“If you could hit the genetic Powerball, Mo smashed it,” said Seth Berger, his high schoo෴l coach at the Westtown School inꦰ Pennsylvania. “He’s tall, talented, long, super smart, handsome and charismatic. The kid has it all.”
The 19-year-old Bamba, whose parents come from Ivory Coast, has significantly ra🧔ised expectations at Texas by his mere presence. A year after winning just 11 games, the Longhorns received 10 votes in the Associates Press preseason poll, led by Bamba and his freakish length (7-foot-9 wingspan and 9-foot-6 standing reach). But he’s just as impressive off the court, a solid student at the academically challenging prep school. Bamba twice h𓆉as attended Daryl Morey’s Sloan Sports Analytics Conference to better understand the direction the sport is headed, and widen his knowledge of the game.
“It was more of a qu🐓estion of why would I not🌼 want to go to something like that,” he said. “It was laying down the blueprint.”
“He’s got a really good perspective. He’s incredibly smart,” said ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who first met Bamba as a sophomore in high school. “He’s not just a basketball player. … He’s got a little bit of David Robinson in him.”
What’s scary is Bamba is further along offensively than most thought, according to Shaka Smart. The Texas coach raved about his touch around the basket, his passing ability, and his awareness of double-teams. He scored 15 points in an exhibition against Texas A&M, and performed well in the team’s summer exhibition tour in Australia. Everyone expect🐈ed Bamba to make an immediate impact defensively — he averaged seven blocks per game in three years at the Westtown School and fouled out just once, in his second game there — but the 👍other end of the court was expected to be a work in progress.
“He’s got more offensဣive game than people might think,” Smart said.
He doesn’t act like a freshman. Bamba is vocal on the floor, a strong communicator. He made a big effort immediately to be like one of the guys, defusing any tension about being a big-shot recruit. It stands out as much as his shot-blocking acumen or low-post moves✤.
“Mo is furt🔜her ahead with that than m෴ost freshmen are,” Smart said.
Bamba credits much of his development to his upbringing, playing against elite opponents on the AAU circuit with the PSA Cardina⛦ls and at the Westtown School, facing similarly talented players on𝔍 a daily basis. He wanted to challenge himself, a philosophy he had at an early age.
People in the n♏eighborhood often he said he𓆉 would be the best from his family of basketball players. Bamba wanted to ensure that outcome.
He would spend long days as a teenager playing pickup games against grown men at the Ki🌼ng Towers courts across the street from his house, often getting pushed around, having a difficult time getting his shot off. It never hurt his confidence.
“I was always back the next day,” he said.
That’s not to say his life has been without difficulty. In late June, his estranged half-brother, Ibrahim Johnson, accused him in a profanity-laced Facebook video of accepting cash and gifts from Michigan-based private equity investor Greer Love, Bamba’s adviser. The NCAA cleared him of any wrongdoing in July, and Johnson had been out of the picture since last Janua꧟ry.
Another brother, Sidiki Johnson, was considered a can’t-miss prospect. He committed to Arizona after attending four different high schools, but only played in three games as a freshman, was suspended indefinitely for breaking team rules, and transferred to Providence, where he appeared in only 13 games. He’s now at Greene Penitentiary in Coxsackie, N.Y., serving the second year of a four-year sentence for second degree attempted robbery and third degree robbery. It taught Bamba the route he wante🐲d to take.
“It sucks you have to learn that way,” he said. “It’s life. It kind of enabled me to be the person I am🃏 today.”
Sidiki Johnson helped Bamba in his recruitment, told him to focus on relationships rather than basketball, not to rush anything. Most figured he would go to Duke or Kentucky as many projected one-and-done prospects, but Bamba chose Texas became of how close he felt t⛄o the staff, most notably Smart.
It was a surprising choice, but clearly Bamba isn’t a cookie-cutter type of kid. He saw promise at Texas, joining a team that includes talented guards🔯 Andrew Jones and Kerwin Roach II, prized freshman point guard Matt Coleman and Tulane transfer forward Dylan 𒐪Osetkowski.
“I expect to get out there and compete ꦅfor a national championship,” Bamba said. “It’s much easier said than done, but it’s going to be quite the story.”
A loo🐽k at the top players in college basketball with city ties:
Preseason All-City first team
Soph. G Rawle Alkins (Brooklyn), Arizona
The Christ the King alum was the rare freshman who could be a glue guy, a lock-down defender and willing ball-mover who impac💦ted the game wit🏅h minimal scoring. A broken right foot will keep the sculpted 6-foot-5 guard out early, but his defense and playmaking abilities will be integral to getting loaded Arizona to its first Final Four since 2001.
Fr. F Mohamed Bamba (Harlem), Texas
With his absurd 7-foot-9 wingspan and 9-6 standing reach, the projected top-five pick in June’s NBA draft will be one of the sport’s premier defenders. Even scarier for opponents, early indications are the 6-11 Bamba’s offense, previously considered a work in progress, ma𒁏y be further along than anticipated.
Sr. G Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn), Seton Hall
�🌸�A sterling career comes to a close this year for the high-character former Bishop Loughlin star, and he will get the opportunity to run the show this winter. A magical March is possible for Seton Hall, a preseason top-25 team with Final Four dreams, but only if Carrington thrives in his new role at point guard.
Fr. G Hamidou Diallo (Queens), Kentucky
His dunks will be instant social media favorites, and the 6-foot-6 guard with the 44 ¹/₂ -inch vertical leap — the second-highest vertical in NBA Combine history — 𓄧has the length and qꦛuickness to be an elite defender. If Diallo can demonstrate any semblance of a jump shot, he’ll be a lottery pick in June.
Soph. G Shamorie Ponds (Brooklyn), St. John’s
He’s nicknamed “Slick” for a reason. The smooth 6-foot-1 guard from Thomas Jefferson, who set a St. John’s record🐲 as a freshman for points scored, is an effortless scorer posses✤sing a strong mid-range game and high-quality jumper.
Second Team
Sr. F Bashir Ahmed (Bronx), St. John’s
Jr. F Jessie Govan (Queens), Georgetown
Soph. G Ty Jerome (New Rochelle), Virginia
Sr. F Desi Rodriguez (Bronx), Seton Hall
Jr. G Justin Wright-Foreman (Queens), Hofstra
Third Team
Jr. F Terry Larrier (Bronx), UConn
Fr. F Nick Richards (Queens), Kentucky
Sr. G Matt Scott (Brooklyn), Niagara
Sr. G Rich Williams (Brooklyn), Manhattan
Fr. G Isaiah Washington (Harlem), Minnesota