SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - Houda Hamrouni is set to become the international star that Tunisia women's national team never had over the course of the country's basketball history.

Up until a few years ago, discussing Tunisian women's basketball inevitably brought to mind the prominent names of Selma M'Nasria, Maha Chelly, Rim Gannar and Nedra Dhouibi.

Now, the reality is different, and Hamrouni might become the big thing coming off Tunisia's women basketball programmes, although she is taking one step at a time.

Unlike its male counterpart, Tunisian women's national team is yet to make a big impact on the African continent, but with Hamrouni displaying such a great progress in the past two years, and attracting the attention of European clubs, the future seems bright for a country that dropped three places in the FIBA Ranking Women (60th).

And the 20-year-old is building her name for herself.

A couple of years before signing for Slovenian side ZKK Athlete Celje, Hamrouni sparked Tunisia to a fourth-place finish at the 2012 FIBA Africa U18 Championship for Women held in Senegal, where she led the all players in scoring and rebounding (17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game) and was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Egypt's playmaker Soraia Deghady, tournament MVP Yacine Diop of Senegal, and the Malian duo of Mariam Kone and Aminata Traore.
 
At the time, I asked then-Tunisia head coach Walid Gharbi to talk about Hamrouni's potential and what he made of her progress.

First, Gharbi said the country was focused on improving its game and targeted reaching the Semi-Finals at AfroBasket Women 2015 and then insisted that Hamrouni would not reach her potential unless she improved her defensive skills.

Two years have passed since that conversation and Gharbi can't hide his pride in the improved level of play of the 1.88m forward.

"Physically she is stronger, her three-point shooting is getting better than ever and she stepped up her defensive game," he told me last week.

Hamrouni's versatility enables her to play in the paint and out on the perimeter. Not surprisingly then, the Tunisian rising star was the leading scorer at the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championships held in in Moscow, Russia earlier this month, where she averaged 7.6 points per game.

I was so curious to find out more about what the Nabeul-native was planning for her basketball career that I could not resist the temptation of asking her a few questions.

And the Physical Education teacher-to-be - who returned home after her first European experience in Slovenia to continue her studies - was not shy to share her personal and national team goals.

Hamrouni says she had offers from French, Egyptian and Tunisian clubs, though she is evaluating what is best for her.

Nevertheless, one thing is certain for the 20-year-old: if Tunisia are serious about going farther at next year's AfroBasket Women, they must double and improve their preparations.

"We need to have more professional players overseas in order to learn from the international competition. Without this, we might struggle to overcome many obstacles," she told me.

For most players, competing in the EuroLeague Women as well as the WNBA is the ultimate goal, but for the Tunisian top prospect it is all about taking "one step at time."

"First I want to finish my Physical Education studies, then I want to develop my game in Europe before I consider offers or plans to play in the WNBA.

"For now, I am focused to learn the game as much as I can."

If Hamrouni keeps her progress pace at such high level, surely Tunisia is going to be the biggest winner.

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

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