JOHANNESBURG (FIBA U18 African Championship 2018)-What a year it’s been for Egypt’s Youssef Osama Elmadawy. Just more than half way into 2018, the 17 year old Egyptian sensation has been to more basketball events than he could have imagined.

In April, Elmadawy was in Mannheim, Germany, competing at the acclaimed biennial Albert Schweitzer Tournament. In June and July,  the impressive small forward was rivalling the world’s best at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 in Argentina, where he averaged 12.7 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists - leading Egypt in all three categories.

A few weeks after that amazing experience, Elmadawy was in Johannesburg gaining skills at the 2018 Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa camp. The Egyptian small forward, who was participating in the event organized by the NBA in collaboration with FIBA for the first time, spoke highly of his time in South Africa.

"It was an unbelievable experience training at the BWB this year. I learned a lot from the NBA players and coaches who were there," Elmadawy said. "For someone like me who always wants to get better all the time, attending that camp is incredible. It’s wonderful and I want to continue working hard."

"WE WANT TO GO TO BAMAKO AND MAKE A CLEAR STATEMENT. FOR US, THE BEST RESULT WILL BE GOING TO THE WORLD CUP. IT’S TOO APPEALING TO RESIST. FOR US TO DO THIS, WE WILL HAVE TO WIN THE AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIP.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                              - Elmadawy

Hard work has undoubtedly been the key to Elmadawy’s meteoric rise through the various categories of Egypt’s national team program. Though gifted, it was Elmadawy’s work ethic that paved his way into Egypt’s national team when he featured at the FIBA U16 African Championship 2017 in Mauritius before donning the Egyptian jersey again for action in this year’s U17 World Cup in Argentina.

The Cairo native believes matching up against more gifted players from across the globe made him discover what kind of basketball player he wants to be in the future.

"It was wonderful playing at the World Cup and a great experience playing against all those countries. I discovered a lot there and saw different game styles. I want to be a great basketball player and an important man for the national team," he told FIBA.basketball.

"Having such knowledge helps me improve my game and I think I need more of such experiences if I want to become one of the best in Africa and the world."

The 6ft 4in (1.92m) wing, who plays for Al Ahly, craves big tournaments and victories. He’s now cast his gaze on winning the FIBA U18 African Championship 2018 to be played from August 24-September 2 in Bamako, Mali.

Aware that the finalists will sail through to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019, Elmadawy admitted that he and his teammates have been training hard for the Bamako event.

"We want to go to Bamako and make a clear statement. For us, the best result will be going to the World Cup. It’s too appealing to resist. For us to do this, we will have to win the African Championship. Other countries are training for it, but we’ve always been working very hard for that," Elmadawy said.

The small forward is banking on the skills garnered during the 16th BWB Africa Camp in Johannesburg to spur his team to continental supremacy.

"I worked a lot on my shooting, ball handling and positioning. It was tremendous getting to see some of these NBA players and learn from that. Off the court, I made many friends and it’s always very important having these talented people around. With every defeat at the BWB came a lesson and I realized that though I didn’t always win, I got better and it’s something I won't forget,"he concluded.

FIBA