Clarksville, TN – Serigne Mboup, a 6-7, 190-pound forward from Senegal, has signed a financial aid agreement to play basketball at Austin Peay State University.
Mboup, who comes to APSU from New Mexico Military Institute, will take Matt Hasse’s spot on the roster (Hasse retired early due to medical reasons).
“Serigne is a real active, athletic young man who plays very hard on both ends of the court,” APSU head coach Dave Loos said. “He found out he could graduate early from the Mew Mexico Military Academy and did so.
“We wanted to be careful on this scholarship. We were going to use it on a freshman in this next class. But Serigne became available and we believe he is what we were looking for. His (juco) numbers are a little skewed in that he didn’t play the first semester and he had to work his way in.”
Mboup is expected to provide depth at the post position behind Chris Horton, the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year who also will be entering his sophomore season.
“I like idea of his aggressiveness on the defensive end and on the boards,” Loos said. “He fits very much into our culture change.”
Mbopu grew up playing with a different round ball—Senegal is a soccer-crazed country. He began developing his basketball abilities in Senegal’s Sports for Education and Economic Development Foundation (SEEDS), established in 2003. With the help of Nike and the NBA among others, SEEDS offers intense 10-month training period for prospective basketball players.
Mboup visited Utah, The Citadel, Montana Tech and APSU before deciding on the Govs. His academic interests are in engineering and physics.
“I really like him personally,” Loos said. “He is a bright young man with his priorities straight—education first with him. I think he was sold on our basketball program, our facility and schedule and all that. It came down were we the right place academically for him.”
