Adama-Alpha Bal (born 18 December 2003) is a French college basketball player for the

Santa Clara Broncos The Santa Clara Broncos are athletic teams that represent Santa Clara University. The school colors are red and white. The nicknames for teams is The Broncos and the student fans are referred to as the "Ruff Riders". The Broncos compete in the NC ...

of the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

. He previously played for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

Early life

Bal was born on 18 December 2003, and grew up in

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

, France. He played basketball for the third-tier

Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball (), shortly CFBB, is a French basketball club, based in Paris. The club's squads are filled with players from the training institute INSEP. The first team of the club currently plays in the Nationale Masculine 1, the ...

(CFBB) team in Paris, averaging 9.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists while playing 27 minutes per game in the 2020–21 season. He was ranked one of the top European college basketball prospects and committed to play for the

College career

As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

at Arizona in the 2021–22 season, Bal played 23 games and averaged 4.5 minutes per game, scoring 34 total points with 1.5 per game. The following season, he played 26 games and averaged 2.5 points and shot 35.4% in 3-point range. After having played just 104 minutes as a freshman and 214 as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

, Bal entered the NCAA transfer portal in 2023. Bal ultimately transferred to the

for his junior year. He quickly became a top player for the team in the

International career

Bal was a member of the France national under-16 basketball team and competed at the

2019 FIBA U16 European Championship The 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship was the 33rd edition of the Under-16 European Basketball Championship. The competition took place from 9 to 17 August 2019 in Udine, Italy. The top five teams qualified for the 2020 FIBA Under-17 Basketball ...

, where he averaged 6.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.0 assist in seven games while helping France win second place. He has also been a member of the national under-20 team, playing for them at the

2022 FIBA U20 European Championship The 2022 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 23rd edition of the European basketball championship for national under-20 teams. It was played from 16 to 24 July 2022 in Podgorica, Montenegro. Spain men's national under-20 basketball team won t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bal, Adama 2003 births Living people Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball players French basketball players Guards (basketball) Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball players Sportspeople from Le Mans