Recruiting players for college basketball has turned into the quest to get to players as early as possible.
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuits and prep schools breed players from the time they are in elementary school to the time they are ready to take the next step. Athletes get offers as early as seventh grade in some cases, which is why Oregon guard TJ Bamba is so unique.
Bamba didn’t receive the same interest at a young age. In fact, Bamba didn’t even start taking the sport seriously until 10th grade, which comes as more of a surprise since he grew up in the Bronx — often lauded for its ability to produce some of the best basketball players.
“New York is a basketball state, especially in the city,” Bamba said. “We have Dyckman and Rucker (Park), so seeing that and feeling that energy, it moves you as a young kid. Especially because I had a lot of friends who played basketball and were good.”
Bamba noticed the life-changing opportunities that those he knew were getting by playing basketball, and knew he had the ability to work to that level.
“I wasn’t good. I wasn’t taking it seriously yet. Seeing the opportunities they started to get and how it could change their situation with their families or the trajectory of their lives,” Bamba said, “I needed to go somewhere where I can put my head down and learn at my own pace.”
So, at the age of 16, he moved in with his aunt and uncle in Denver to attend Abraham Lincoln High School.
“I felt like I could be good at (basketball) if I put my mind to it,” Bamba said.
Bamba credits a lot of that confidence to his religious upbringing, especially the more than three years he spent learning at a boarding school in Senegal that centered its teachings around Islam. His family felt that faith should be an important pillar in Bamba’s life, which led to their decision to send him to Senegal when he was just seven years old.
As would become a theme for Bamba, he blossomed.
“It was a culture shock, learning a new language, different type of food (and) different type of curriculum, so at the time I didn’t know what I was going through. Being able to get through it by myself as a kid helped set me up to have the skills in life now,” Bamba said. “I can go anywhere and be successful. Me being a person that’s heavily religious and faithful, I know anywhere I go, God is with me.”
Bamba took his talents out west for his final years of high school, which also allowed him to make the best decision for the “greater good.” A lot of the time, that came with sacrificing being close to family, which was something Bamba had to become okay with in order to succeed.
“I got an opportunity to train differently, get coached differently and really expose me to the real basketball world and what it would take for me to become a great basketball player,” Bamba said. “The Senegal experience prepared me to sacrifice family time or being close to home for the greater good.”
The gamble ultimately paid off. Bamba was not a nationally-ranked recruit, but he received an offer from one power-five program — the Washington State Cougars.
“I didn’t have many other offers at places where they believed in me and I felt like (former Washington State head coach Kyle) Smith and them believed in me,” Bamba said.
Bamba eventually broke out and averaged 15.8 points per game in his junior season in Pullman, which finally drew interest from the national powerhouses. For his fourth year, he signed up to play for head coach Kyle Neptune at Villanova University. After the Wildcats’ lackluster season and a dip in the NBA draft waters, Bamba decided to bring his talents to Eugene.
“I wouldn’t be able to do any of it without being used to traveling or going away from home,” Bamba said.
Bamba, now out of college eligibility, will prepare for the draft back home in New York, but given his experience, he will be perfectly fine wherever he ends up.
