Cheikh Sarr doing the homework for Senegal

SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - Coach Cheikh Sarr is the man of the moment in Senegal basketball.

First he was confirmed as staying at the helm of Senegal's men national team.

Then he adopted and re-invented a work plan which previously undermined Senegal's aspiration in past international competitions.

Now, Senegalese players - especially those based abroad - can't wait to hear from Sarr ahead of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Since FIBA lifted Senegal's suspension a couple of months ago, the newly-appointed organising committee - tasked to oversee basketball in the country - seems to be doing things differently, for the better.

Unlike past years, in which current and former players accused the country's basketball authorities of mishandling the game in the country, the continuity of coach Sarr, a physical education teacher who is based in the capital city Dakar, is clearly encouraging news.

He has wasted no time and started doing his homework.

In the past few weeks, Sarr travelled overseas focusing on meeting and attracting potential fits for the national team, which will be playing their Group Phase at Spain 2014 in the southern city of Seville along with Greece, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Croatia and Argentina.

Obviously, Sarr's early preparation plan indicates change, but he will need to be cautious in his selection as he risks missing out on Senegalese players who might end up representing other nations.

The issue is that Sarr will only need 12 players for Spain 2014 among hundreds of selectable options. This is what makes his World Cup homework intriguing and unmissable.

One of those Senegalese players based overseas is Minnesota Timberwolves big man Gorgui Dieng who has already heard from Sarr.

Dieng told FIBA.com he is excited about the prospect of playing for Senegal in Spain.

"I'm very excited to go back and play for my national team," said Dieng, who might be a precious help for Senegal in the paint area.

In order to prove that Senegal has learned from past mistakes, whatever selection and planning coach Sarr make, they have to be listened to. After all, this is the man who guided Senegal to a third-place finish at AfroBasket 2013 and qualified the team to FIBA's flagship event for the first time since 2006.

Sarr is the man who has served as assistant coach on previous occasions and has experienced disappointment with Senegal, including a fifth-place at AfroBasket 2011 in Madagascar.

If Senegal is to realise its objective of advancing to the next round as Sarr told me a couple of months ago, no one knows, but his high confidence deserves some attention.

"We know it won't be easy," he said at the time, when I asked him to comment on their Group B opponents.

"But we'll play our best to make it happen and try to win two games or more in the Group Phase," Sarr elaborated.

If Senegal do not meet their expectations at Spain 2014, surely they should not panic but instead re-group in order to compete for the top place at AfroBasket 2015, which will be staged in Tunisia and serve as a qualifier for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

If Senegal does succeed in Spain 2014, then Sarr's homework should receive high praise as a sign of the highly-anticipated progress and new era for basketball in the country.

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.