For a young man to turn around having his dream of playing major college and then professional basketball (and yes, with his size, athleticism and relentless style of play he had a good chance of playing, at least overseas) cut short in such an unfortunate manner... and turn those lemons into this strong foundation of a career path for his entire life, speaks so highly of Mamadou as a person. You can not help but pull for this young man to experience all the success possible as he moves forward in his career as a mentor and either coach or administrative person helping young athletes to realize their goals and dreams.
And I love how our program (Kevin Ollie first and Danny Hurley since) never turned its back on him, even when it become obvious he was no longer useful to our program as a basketball player, but instead embraced what Mamadou could become as a person.
For all the selfish, me-first, protect the program at all costs, "use 'em up and spit 'em out" stories we have been relentlessly inundated with over the years from all corners of college athletics, this evolving story about Mamadou and UConn basketball has afforded me the opportunity to feel good about the fact that our program continues to be more than just about wins, losses and championships.
I wish for Mamadou to have a long, very successful career... and a wonderful, well-lived life.
