Adama Sanogo (born 12 February 2002) is a Malian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the Chicago Bulls of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA), on a two-way contract with the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirte ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. In 2023 he won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

with the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...

and was named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player.

Early life and high school career

Sanogo grew up in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

, Mali, and first played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

before switching to basketball in 2014. He was convinced by his uncle and basketball scout Tidiane Dramé to start playing the sport. Just one year after picking up basketball, Sanogo moved to the United States to play for Our Savior New American School in Centereach, New York. Sanogo transferred to The Patrick School in

Hillside, New Jersey Hillside is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 21,404, reflecting a decline of 343 (−1.6%) from the 21,747 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in ...

, due to a coaching change at his previous school. In his senior season, he averaged 13.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Sanogo competed for the New York Rens on the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

circuit. A consensus four-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * ''Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (En ...

, he committed to playing college basketball for UConn over offers from Seton Hall and

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

College career

Sanogo became a starter in the third game of his freshman season at UConn. On 3 March 2021, he recorded a season-high 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in a 69–58 win over Seton Hall. As a freshman, Sanogo averaged 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, earning Big East All-Freshman Team honors. On November 24, 2021, he scored a career-high 30 points in a 115–109 double overtime win against

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. On December 1, Sanogo suffered an abdominal injury during a 72–63 win versus

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (commonly UMES and also known as the Eastern Shore Hawks) are the fifteen sports teams representing the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland in intercollegiate athletics. ...

and was ruled out for several weeks. He was named to the First Team All-Big East. On 4 April 2023, Sanogo won the

with UConn and was named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player. He became the first Africa-born player since

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...

(1983) to win the award.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft, Sanogo signed a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls on July 10, 2023.

National team career

Sanogo won a gold medal representing

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

at the

2017 FIBA Under-16 African Championship The 2017 FIBA Africa Under-16 Championship, alternatively the 5th Afrobasket U16, was an international basketball competition held in Vacoas-Phoenix, Mauritius from 13–22 July 2017. It served as the qualifier for the 2018 FIBA Under-17 Basketb ...

in Mauritius, averaging 10.5 points and eight rebounds per game. At the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup, he averaged six points and seven rebounds per game.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;", UConn , 23 , , 20 , , 17.0 , , .554 , , – , , .577 , , 4.8 , , .6 , , .4 , , .9 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", UConn , 29 , , 28 , , 29.2 , , .504 , , .000 , , .686 , , 8.8 , , 1.0 , , .9 , , 1.9 , , 14.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;", UConn , 39 , , 39 , , 26.5 , , .606 , , .365 , , .766 , , 7.7 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .8 , , 17.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 91 , , 87 , , 25.0 , , .560 , , .358 , , .715 , , 7.3 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 1.2 , , 13.9

Personal life

Sanogo is the son of Cheickne Sanogo and Awa Traore, and has four sisters and one brother. He is a practicing

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, so, due to the timing of

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

in 2023, he was fasting during the NCAA tournament.

References

External links

UConn Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanogo, Adama 2002 births Living people 21st-century Malian people Malian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Malian men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Bamako The Patrick School alumni UConn Huskies men's basketball players