Badji, Diop among seven players back from Senegal U18 team
DAKAR (Senegal) - Ibou Dianko Badji and Khalifa Diop lead a group of seven players back from Senegal's team at the FIBA U18 African Championship 2020 for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021.
DAKAR (Senegal) - The Spanish-based big man duo of Ibou Dianko Badji and Khalifa Diop lead a group of seven players back from Senegal's team at the FIBA U18 African Championship 2020 who have been named to the country's final 12-man roster for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021.
Badji and Diop are joined on head coach Parfait Adjuvon's final squad by Boubacar Diatta, Pape Mor Laye Diop, Fallou Gueye, Moustapha Mboup and Babacar Sane, who carried Senegal to second place at the U18 continental tournament, losing 82-80 in the Final to Mali.
| Senegal's roster for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021 | ||||
| Ibou Dianko Badji | Boubacar Diatta | Khalifa Diop | Pape Mor Laye Diop | Fallou Gueye |
| Hassane Gueye | Dahaba Magassa | Mouhamed Mbengue | Moustapha Mboup | Baye Abdou Ndongo |
| Babacar Sane | Cheikh Sow | |||
Badji and Sane were both selected to the All-Star Five of the U18 African Championship last December. While both Badji and Diop averaged double-doubles in points and rebounds, Sane was Senegal's leading scorer with 14.0 points to go along with 6.0 rebounds.
Sane (middle) and Badji (right) were on the All-Star Five at the FIBA U18 African Championship 2020
Both Badji, who plays in Barcelona's youth ranks, and Diop, who earned pro minutes with Gran Canaria this past season, will also be returning to the U19 Basketball World Cup after playing in Heraklion in 2019. Diop was the team's second-leading scorer with 13.1 points a game while picking up a third-best 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. Badji meanwhile collected 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 blocks - the latter number ranking second best in the tournament.
The centers are two of seven Lions players who play their club basketball outside of Senegal. Pape Mor Laye Diop, Hassane Gueye and Dahaba Magassa all play in France while Cheikh Sow and Baye Abdou Ndongo came to the team from the United States.
Senegal have been drawn into Group A of the July 3-11 tournament that will take place in the Latvian locales of Daugavpils and Riga along with Japan, Lithuania and Canada. The Africans will be making their third appearance on the U19 global stage and will be hoping to finally break through. Senegal picked up just one win and finished 16th of 16 teams in 2013 and then won just once to finish 15th in 2019.
FIBA