Mbah à Moute scouts for talents in Buea

Luc Richard Mbah à Moute, a Cameroonian who plays basketball in the USA conducted a talent-pick in Buea recently to take part in boot training camp in South Africa.

Young lovers of basketball in Buea and environs scrambled for space in the Molyko Sport Complex last Saturday, 9 May, 2010 to win a place in the selection.

Eventually, 31 boys were selected in Buea to take part in boot training camp in South Africa.

According to our source, about 400 students from Secondary Schools and Higher Institutions turned out in their sleeveless T-shirts, shorts and sneakers. After a series of bodily exercises conducted by experts, the young players were divided into groups and set into the basketball court for action.

From the games played, 31 boys aged 15-18 were selected based on individual performances, physical fitness and height. Their photographs were taken including that of two primary school girls, below the ages of ten.

The organizer, Luc Richard Mbah à Moute, who plays basketball for "Philadelphia 76 ers" in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States of America (USA), said the same exercise will be carried out in Douala, Yaoundé, Bafoussam and Bamenda in the coming days to detect more talents.

He said in a month’s time, the result of the selected prospects will be on his website. Those successful will then move to South Africa to “Boot Camp” for the same exercise and the best selected players shall be given scholarship to study and improve their basketball skills in USA colleges which are nursery grounds for NBA.

He said it was the same process he underwent at the age of 16 from Cameroon through South Africa with “Basketball without Borders” before landing in the USA.

On Friday, 8 May, Luc Richard Mbah à Moute was at the Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB) where he was crowned Honorary Member of the Board of Trustees of the Institution.

In the presence of CUIB president, Reverend Father George Nkeze Jingwa, the NBA star encouraged the students to dream big in whatever they do, stressing it is this spirit that has been his driving force. “My success is as a result of the fact that I listen and learn a lot from others,” he told the students.

He used the occasion to entertain questions from students on life in NBA. Mbah a Moute donated jerseys and basketballs to the CUIB.