Fall made the most of out of the opportunity, and has used the model to come back and help others. I thought for a second before I arrived that hmmm, here's a scout in the NBA, of course he's gonna want to develop 6'10' to 7' players from Senegal so that he could sign them and look good, but wow was I ever wrong. Within five seconds of meeting "Gallo," as everyone calls him, I realized this dude had a heart of pure altruism. I even felt embarrassed for even questioning his intentions. He had me meet with people from the Peace Corps and the US State Department. The way they revered him made it obvious that homeboy is doing everything he can to develop education and economic empowerment for his homeland. He doesn't forget where he's come from. So much so, Lineberger was invited to coach the GROW THE GAME clinics all weekend as well, 20 years after they had met.
Amadou Gallo Fall was the recipient of a DII scholarship in the late '80s after Peace Corps member Kevin Lineberger saw him playing in Tunisia
FROM DEEP: ROOTS, SEEDS, AND TREES IN SENEGAL, WEST AFRICA
By Dime Magazine
Words: Bobbito Garcia, Bounce Magazine
SEEDS Academy scrimmage on my last day in Senegal. This was one of many woop-woops I witnessed!
On Jan. 13, I left NYC for an unforgettable journey to the motherland. The SEEDS Foundation invited me to coach clinics in four Senegalese cities over a three-day weekend as part of its GROW THE GAME program to not only help kids learn how to play ball but more importantly to inspire them to choose education as a route to self-empowerment. The academic achievement of the youth there is staggering; something to the tune of 20% go to high school, 5% go to college, and as a result, 40% of the adult population is illiterate. Factor in malnutrition of children under 5, lack of gross national product to export (i.e.: no oil or diamond trade), and you basically have one of the least developed countries in the world. It's not as poor as Zimbabwe or Somalia, but in comparison, I've been to the most down-trodden favelas of Brazil and would definitely say that Senegal was on another level of poverty. About a third of the population lives on less than $1.25 US dollars a day.
In 2003, SEEDS founder Amadou Gallo Fall (currently VP of NBA Africa and a former scout for the Dallas Mavs) took his own money and created the SEEDS Academy, a non-profit center where teenagers with b-ball promise could receive a better education, as well as a chance at life. Its best-known graduate to date has been Mouhamed Sene, who played in the NBA, but the bigger success story is the number of kids who have finished at the school with standardized test scores over the Senegalese national average, having gone on to colleges in the United States, some even on scholarship, both academic and athletic.
Indeed, Senegal's greatest natural resource is its people.
I can share that for a country of only 12 million people, it has produced seven NBA players. Brazil's population is 190 million, and China's is 1.3 billion; yet, they both have about the same number of countrymen each who have run in the greatest league in the world. Senegal also has roughly 40 more high-jumping cats playing pro overseas throughout Europe and the Middle East. I would guesstimate that NYC, the Mecca for b-ball, probably has about the same number of guys over the water cashing checks.
So how does Senegal do it? Soccer is the #1 sport, and there are only three indoor basketball courts . . . in the entire country. (One has a wood floor, the other has tile, and the third is concrete.)
Like I said, Senegal's greatest natural resource . . . is its people. One could surmise that the key to the country's successful export of ballplayers is the plentiful number of big men who populate the land, but the real key is the SEEDS staff of coaches and administrators. They are as dedicated as you'll find. They could be elsewhere with fat contracts making paper, but they help their countrymen due to pride and to being grounded. SEEDS head coach Cheikh Sarr is a triple threat, for example. He is also the assistant on the Men's National Team, as well as the man on the sideline for the local Thiés club squad where the school is located. Now that's commitment!
Amadou Gallo Fall himself was the recipient of a DII scholarship in the late '80s after Peace Corps member Kevin Lineberger saw him playing in Tunisia. Fall made the most of out of the opportunity, and has used the model to come back and help others. I thought for a second before I arrived that hmmm, here's a scout in the NBA, of course he's gonna want to develop 6′10″ to 7′ players from Senegal so that he could sign them and look good, but wow was I ever wrong. Within five seconds of meeting "Gallo," as everyone calls him, I realized this dude had a heart of pure altruism. I even felt embarrassed for even questioning his intentions. He had me meet with people from the Peace Corps and the US State Department. The way they revered him made it obvious that homeboy is doing everything he can to develop education and economic empowerment for his homeland. He doesn't forget where he's come from. So much so, Lineberger was invited to coach the GROW THE GAME clinics all weekend as well, 20 years after they had met.
Visiting Senegal was my first trip to West Africa. I can write hours about the experience and what it meant to me, especially going to Goree Island, the port where the "Door of No Return" still stands as a historical landmark. Some 20 million slaves passed through it on their way to Brazil, the Carribean Islands, and the US over a 300-year period. A guide showed me the tiny quarters where shackled women, children and men would be held for months before leaving. He estimated some six million died before even getting on the boats. It was a heavy afternoon, but a necessary one and the only way I would've wanted to have been introduced to the country.
