UConn's Adama Sanogo learned to love basketball in U.S. after growing up in Mali
Connecticut forward Adama Sanogo embraces Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley after a NCAA Tournament national semifinal game against Miami at NRG Stadium on Saturday, April 1, 2023, in Houston.His message to youth when family members and other well-meaning adults try to do what they consider best for a youngster: “Don’t just say no to everything.”
Like Olajuwon in the 1960s and 1970s, Sanogo grew up playing soccer, and like the NBA’s all-time blocks leader Sanogo said the footwork and agility honed for years on soccer fields help him now on the basketball court. Sanogo reluctantly gave up soccer at 14 years old and moved to the United States a year later, where he attended Our Savior New American School in Centereach, N.Y., and later The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J.
“When he came into the program, our culture was still a little bit … it wasn’t fully formed in terms of a work ethic,” Hurley said. “There wasn’t a seriousness to what our program was all about. You couldn’t turn the roster the way you can now, and quickly turn the page and get in the mix.
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