| Babacar Camara will likely have to improve his rebounding numbers in 2002-03 if he is to maintain possession of the starting center's job he has held down for most of his two seasons with the Titans... "His two years of experience will be invaluable, both to the team and himself," says Coach Daniels... "But he must focus on and concentrate primarily on his rebounding and defense"... Babacar has made great strides in every facet of his life the past two years, his first two in the United States, and his first two seasons of playing basketball at the NCAA Div. I level... He added about 20 pounds to his upper body prior to last season to better prepare himself for the physical inside game... Babacar was the last recruit of Coach Daniels' first Titan class and easily the tallest... He had played organized basketball for only three years but gamely applied himself to the task at hand and gained valuable experience... Transferred to Cal State Fullerton after one year at Dakar's Cheickantadiop (shek-AHN-tuh-dee-OPP) University, which did not field a basketball team... Attended Yalla En High School in Dakar, which did not field a team... Played for Coach Babacar Sy with the Giant Step Basketball Club in Dakar.
CSF IN 2001-02: Babacar started all 25 games in which he played... He missed the season opener at Pepperdine for disciplinary reasons and was ill at Wyoming... He averaged 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds while playing about 25 minutes per game... He blocked 34 shots, more than doubling his previous year's total... He also cut his turnovers in half... His best game was against Point Loma on Dec. 8 when he had 11 points and 11 rebounds, the latter a career high... He also blocked 3 shots... He tied a 24-year-old Cal State Fullerton record (Steve Shaw in 1978) when he blocked 8 shots against UC Riverside on Feb. 9, in a game in which he also had 10 rebounds.
CSF IN 2000-01: Babacar appeared in all 28 games and became a starter at roughly the conclusion of the non-conference schedule, for a total of 20 starts... Averaged 7.5 points and 4.4 rebounds... Has the best field goal percentage (.488) of any returning Titan... Was team's No. 2 rebounder... Is capable of shooting from the perimeter, witness his .364 percentage from behind the 3-point arc (made 4 of 11 tries)... By comparison, the rest of the team shot a combined .304 from 3-point land... Twice scored 16 points in a game -- at Cal Poly SLO on Jan. 25 and vs. Utah State on Feb. 2 ... Had a rebounding best of 10 vs. Boise State.
PERSONAL: Born on Oct. 15, 1981, in Dakar, Senegal... Parents are Cheick and Awa N'Diaye Camara of Dakar... Speaks four languages -- French, Arabic, his native tongue of "Wolof" and English... Credits Coach Sy for teaching him that there is more to life than just basketball... He came to Cal State Fullerton for the opportunity to play Div. I basketball in the United States... Worked during the summer at the Titan youth basketball camps... African-American studies major whose ambition is to work for the United Nations... He is on schedule to graduate in June, which would earn him another year of eligibility.
CAMARA QUOTE: "Every basketball player in my country thinks about playing in the NCAA. Not many get the chance. There are good basketball players in Senegal, but they don't have the support there to get better. They don't have enough money to develop the programs. The good programs are here." |
