 |
Members of SMU's
basketball team are working out in preparation for
their next season. They are also set with a new
perspective on three teammates and on their team.
Senior center Bamba Fall said, "I think now they
really know like where we came from." |
|
Sophomore guard Mike Walker relays, "It was very
eye-opening... You get to know the guys on the team
and everything, but to be able to see where they
come form and why they act the way they act... is
very enlightening." |
| The
SMU basketball team returned from a 12-day tour of
Africa. They played and taught basketball and
learned about their teammates Bamba Fall, Papa Dia,
and Mouhammad Faye -- their teammates form Senegal. |
|
Walker, having grown up in Iowa City, Iowa, says,
"What they have to go through just to play the game
on an everyday basis just makes you think twice and
appreciate what you have a lot more." |
| This
trip was the first time that Bamba Fall's parents
met his teammates and coaches. Fall said, "My mom
definitely felt relief." Sophomore swingman Alex
Malone related that "Bamba looks exactly like his
mom. I was like yeah, that's his mom right there." |
| The
team also went sightseeing. Team members saw Nelson
Mandela's hometown, played the national teams form
Senegal and South Africa, and learned about
themselves as a team. Malone spoke of their playing
against some older players on national teams when he
declared, "Just fighting back a team brought us
together a lot more." Bamba Fall said, "We all know
each other real well. I think it will really help." |
|
Before leaving and during their return, players took
an anthropology class, Peoples of Africa, and
brought a professor on their journey. The team
attended classes daily and maintained journals. |
| Bamba
Fall added, "I found out I didn't know everything
about Africa. I definitely learned something also". |
| One
of the most profound points according to Bamba Fall
has to do with his hopes to inspire other young
players from his homeland. He said, "Now they know
that without school you can't play basketball, so I
think basketball will help them stay in school." |
|
* * * END *
* * |
|
Observing Our World: Does anyone recall the
days when students went to college to learn academic
subjects and perhaps play some sports? Today young
athletes go to college to play sports. Period. |