Mouhamed Gueye ( ; born 9 November 2002) is a Senegalese 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 Atlanta Hawks 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). He moved to the United States as a teenager to play high school basketball at Prolific Prep Academy. Gueye played

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for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...

and was named to the All-Pac-12 first-team as a sophomore in 2023. He was selected as the 39th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft by the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

and traded to the Atlanta Hawks on draft night.

Early life

Gueye was raised in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, Senegal, as the youngest of four siblings in a sporting family. He has cousins who have played for the national team and in Europe. Gueye grew up playing

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 ...

but was encouraged by his mother to play basketball because of his tall height. He credits watching his older brother play basketball as an early influence.

High school career

Gueye's personal basketball coach, Mamadou Cisse, connected him with Philippe Doherty, the head coach of Prolific Prep Academy in Napa, California. At age 16, he moved from Dakar to the United States to enroll at Prolific Prep. Gueye had never played organized basketball before playing at Prolific Prep. Gueye emerged as a four-star recruit and a top-50 recruit in the country. He completed his academic requirements early and

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to the 2021 class before he committed to play for the

over several other high-major offers.

College career

Gueye averaged 7.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and .5 assists per game during his freshman season with the Cougars in 2021–22. He was selected to the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

all-freshman team. Gueye declared for the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

but withdrew after receiving feedback from NBA teams. He also tested the

transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member ...

but elected to return to the Cougars for his sophomore season. Gueye's role with the Cougars increased during the 2022–23 season following the departures of key pieces in their front-court. He also played primarily as a center instead of his natural power forward position. Gueye was the centrepiece of the Cougars' offense with head coach Kyle Smith reinforcing throughout the season that the team "plays through Gueye". On 2 February 2023, he scored a career-high 31 points against the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

. Gueye averaged 14.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game during the 2022–23 season and was named to the All-Pac-12 first-team. On 4 April 2023, Gueye declared for the 2023 NBA draft. He was invited to participate at the NBA Draft Combine.

Professional career

Gueye was selected by the

as the 39th overall pick of the 2023 NBA draft. His rights were traded to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

and then to the Atlanta Hawks on draft night. On 3 July 2023, Gueye signed his rookie contract with the Hawks. On 12 November 2023, he was ruled out for a month after suffering a right low back stress fracture; he subsequently missed most of his rookie season. Gueye returned from his injury with a stint for the Hawks'

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affiliate, College Park Skyhawks, and appeared in four games where he averaged 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Career statistics

NBA

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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Play-in

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College

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Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

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References

External links

College statisticsWashington State Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gueye, Mouhamed 2002 births Living people Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Dakar Charlotte Hornets draft picks College Park Skyhawks players NBA players from Senegal Power forwards Senegalese expatriate basketball people in the United States Senegalese men's basketball players Washington State Cougars men's basketball players