Young Cameroonians aspire for the NBA

Hundreds of young Basketball lovers in the North West Region converged on the Bamenda Municipal Stadium Saturday May 16, 2015, to compete in the preselection games for the Luc Mbah A Moute Basketball Camp. Though the Basketball Camp to take place in Yaounde in June is in its fifth edition, this was the very first time for the city of Bamenda to be included in the preselection. The Bamenda rendezvous came on the heels of a similar activity in the Fako Divisional Head Quarters of Buea in the South West Region on Saturday May 9, 2015, at the end of which about 30 kids were shortlisted for the draws for the final selection of 50 participants for the Yaounde Camp. 

Prominent among the postulants were the Bees Sports Academy of Kumbo that featured 43 players. To avoid corruption in the selection process the organizer of the Yaounde Camp and NBA star, Luc Mbah A Moute was present and oversaw the preselection. The Basketball kids were grouped into female category, junior males, cadet and senior males. Considering the many teams that were constituted, the preselection games lasted just 5 minutes each; but within this short space of time the kids exhibited maximum talent thus thrilling the spectators that turned out. Since just 50 participants are needed at the Yaounde Basketball Camp, after three more preselection exercises in Bafoussam, Yaounde and Douala, a final list will be drawn from the several shortlist established at the various preselection meetings. The said list of 50 shall be known only at the end of the preselection exercise. 

Talking to the press after the exercise in Bamenda, Luc Mbah A Moute said from observation the younger kids from 12 and under have some base of basketball than the elderly ones “they got some talent but not a lot, but there are some kids who have good level. So well I am not disappointed because it’s good to see that there are kids playing basketball here and some of them have very good fundamentals; they need to train a lot.” He further explained that kids who will finally be selected will attend the camp in Yaounde, in June after which 5 kids will be selected to go to South Africa for the camp that the NBA puts together. From there the sky is their limit if they make it. Luc Mbah A Moute added that “some of them have gone to the US and even to the NBA. Some other ones are still in college in the US, other ones are in Europe. So it just depends on every kid’s situation. It’s just an opportunity that I try to put together for kids so that they can have a chance to use basketball to get their education.”

Questioned what motivated him to start the “Luc Mbah A Moute Basketball Camp” he said it was because when he was growing up, he never went to a camp; but when he got to the United States, he saw that every summer, kids went to at least 5 camps. During the camps the kids learn so much because many coaches come in and that is when they get better he explained. “You work on your game and become a basketball player. So I wanted to give an opportunity like this to the kids in Cameroon who are my younger brothers but I wanted to work with the best kids. So that’s why I decided to come myself and not trust anybody else to watch the kids play. As regards the Cameroon National Basketball squad Luc Mbah A Moute said he was comfortable with the national team. He added that he was looking forward to taking part in the upcoming African Cup this summer which he is positive he and his team mates will win. 

Background

Luc Mbah a Moute is a Cameroonian basketballer who plays in the US elite National Basketball Association, aka NBA. He was born on September 9, 1986 in Yaounde where he grew up. At the age of 15 he was selected to play in the national basketball cadet squad. Two years later he was selected in the first edition of the “Basketball without Borders”; a camp to detect young talents in South Africa. There he won a scholarship that took him to the Montverde Academy in Florida, USA. He later played for UCLA (2005-2008) from where he joined the NBA. From 2008 to 2013, Luc Mbah a Moute played for Milwaukee Bucks; 2013, Sacramento Kings, 2013-2014, Minnesota Timberwolves and in 2014, Philadelphia Sixers. But in 2007 he played for the national basketball team.  

Since 2010, he decided to assist young talented Cameroonians in the discipline with the hope of them gaining entrance in the NBA. Apart from helping these young Cameroonians make a rich career in basketball, he hopes that through this means Cameroon will one day become a great basketball nation like is the case with football. Four editions of the Mbah a Moute basketball cam have since 2010 been organized. Six young Cameroonians have so far won the sports/education scholarship and are presently playing basketball in America. After the first edition the following were granted scholarship in the US: Michel Ange Enanga who is presently in the University of Coastal Caroline; Luc Junior Tselan who is in Georgetown Prep high Scholl in Maryland; Moute a Bidias Roger Duclos in the University of California-Berkeley and Landry Christ Nnoko in the University of Kansas. Two more were selected after the second edition: William Tchiengang who is now in the West Oak Academy in Orlando in Florida and Joel Hans Embiid who now plays in the NBA.