SEN - Win above all for Senegalese youngster Adams

ABIDJAN (AfroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Louis Adams was only seven years old when his native Senegal last won an AfroBasket title in 1997 and qualified for the FIBA World Championship the following year.

From that historic title run, Adams only recalls moments when members of that team - friends of his father Alexander Adams - visited the family home in Dakar.

Now, Louis Adams is one of the two youngest players - along with Abdou Badji - on a Senegal team competing for a place at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

But in order to compete in FIBA's flagship event for the first time since 2006, they must finish in the top three in Abidjan.

Although Adams has previously bwwn pre-selected for the men's national team, this is his first appearance at senior level and he says he is always ready to step up whenever head coach Cheikh Sarr calls him.

"My role is helping the team to get better, and give my nation a win," he told FIBA.com.

"In the starting line-up we have a senior point guard (Mamadou Ndoye) who does what he has to do and I can come and finish it for him. The coach wants me to play as second point guard," he explained.

Adams is entering his senior year at South Carolina State University in the US collegiate ranks, and he has big plans.

"I want to do much better than I did last year. I'll try to help my school the same way I am helping my nation," he said.

"I want to win a tournament before I leave the school."

Playing at the FIBA Basketball World Cup is as much a dream for Adams, as it is an ambition to go to Senegal and open a big foundation to help children in Africa.

Senegal won two of their three Group A games, and Adams averaged six points per game.

“I am just trying to have fun and help the team. We don't have a younger team, neither an older team. We are just trying to stay together," he pointed out.

"All I want is winning, winning and winning."

FIBA