Late starter Sagana grasps his chance

College day shooting for Sangana

Desagana Diop first picked up a basketball when he was 15 years old, when his schoolmates encouraged him to give it a try considering he was so tall.

At first he hated the game and had all the smaller/faster players running rings round him. Four years on and Sagana is donning a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey after being picked 7th overall in the 2001 NBA Draft.

Sagana's meteoric rise to stardom really started a year after he first picked up a basketball when he was spotted by a scout for the Dallas Mavericks, Amodou Fall who also happened to be Senegalese.

Fall was impressed with Sagana's work ethic and already imposing frame and encouraged him to continue working hard as the NBA was not just a dream but a reality that was within his grasp.

Shortly after, Sagana moved to the United States to further his education (and off course his Basketball skills). He enrolled in Oak Hill Academy High School, which boasts one of the most revered Basketball programmes in the High School ranks.

The adjustment to life in the US was difficult as Sagana spoke very little English. Luckily, one of his team-mates during his first year at Oak Hill was also form Senegal and during practice he helped interpret the coaches instructions. Sagana's on court performance did not require any such adjustment as he put up huge numbers for Oak Hill across the board leading them to an unbeaten season which culminated in the individual honour of being named a McDonald's High School All-American.

The initial plan was for Sagana to play two years of High School Basketball and then move on to college, but his sheer dominance at this level and the dearth of quality big men in the NBA led to an early declaration for the NBA draft.

A fracture to one of the bones in his foot mid-way through his last season at Oak Hill has slowed his development at the NBA level, but he is now fully healthy and starting to show glimpses of the promise that prompted him to begin the long journey to the NBA which started in Senegal and has brought Sagana to prominence in Cleveland, Ohio.

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