You’d think eight pizza boxes would look dwarfed by 8’3” of arms. But, even within Mamadou Ndiaye’s widely-discussed wingspan, the boxes were overwhelming.

It was Friday night, when most college-aged kids are meeting up with friends to unwind from the week, but UC Irvine’s big man visited a pizza place in downtown Santa Ana with a friend.  In athletic gear from head-to-toe, Ndiaye emerged from the joint carrying a stack of pizza and packed it into his friend’s trunk.  It didn’t seem entirely out of the ordinary until the pair pulled up onto a sidewalk and opened the trunk-full of food including pizza, chicken, chips and water all waiting to be distributed. 

A group of Ndiaye’s friends, some from church, some from open gyms, some from past teams, appeared to help unload the food.  One passed out sanitary gloves to the six or so getting ready to help serve the dinner. A small, rag-tag crowd lit up at the site of the arrival and a line formed immediately.

People from the opposite side of the street made their way over to meet the weekly visitors.

It was obvious from the handshakes, the lengthy conversations, and the dancing that this was not the first time Mamadou and his friends had served dinner off of the top of their cars.

Ndiaye did this every week.

“I have one guy who says he can sing.  He cannot, but he’s my best friend there," Ndiaye said.

HOME

A total of 6,242.43 miles separate Irvine, California and Dakar, Senegal.  As the youngest of his siblings, Ndiaye describes his home as a “big town” full of the friendliest of people, however not much family.  While Ndiaye lived with his mother and one of his brothers, two brothers ended up in France and two married sisters lived out of town.

While soccer was his game of choice growing up, Mamadou always towered over his teammates.  It wasn’t until he was in his teens that the future Anteater started to pick up basketball as a second sport, but as soon as he did, he was hooked.

At 16, Ndiaye’s brothers attempted to convince their youngest sibling to move to France to finish school.  At the same time, Ndiaye had a friend who had relocated to Simi Valley in California whose parents also lived in Senegal.  The idea of playing basketball, a sport that Ndiaye explains isn’t as popular in Senegal, and going to school in America was utterly enticing.

“I can say 50/50,” said Ndiaye on what most influenced his decision to move to the United States.  “One, school, and basketball, two. I was starting to like basketball a lot in Senegal.  There were not a lot of people who loved basketball.”

After Mamadou’s mother initially met the idea with hesitation, Ndiaye convinced his family it was the best move for his future.

“I was scared a little bit because it was like, go somewhere and you don’t know a lot of people there,” said Ndiaye on the overseas move.  “I was scared and nervous for about three weeks, four weeks, [then] I was used to it.  I made new friends.”

Ndiaye left the city and the country and the people that he knew and departed for Orange County where he was to live with a host family in Huntington Beach, California.

His mother called at least two to three times a day after the move.

TUMOR

Once settled in the United States, Ndiaye played basketball as much as he could, just recreationally at first.

When his mother made her daily phone calls, Ndiaye would talk about the new friends he was making, his new home and how excited he would be to go to the park to put up some shots.  His mother would ask how he was feeling and Ndiaye would always respond positively, but started mentioning recurring headaches.  Never complaining, only relaying that they had become somewhat of a nuisance.

He didn’t think too much of the headaches, but was eventually persuaded to see a doctor.

After an MRI, Mamadou’s first of what would be many, the teen discovered that he had a tumor actively affecting his growth hormone.

“I have this in my body and I didn’t know?” recalled Mamadou.

Fear washed violently over Ndiaye as he was forced to grasp the news.

“My body doesn’t feel [anything], I feel good.”

Doctors told Mamadou and his family that surgery was imperative.  Ndiaye’s first thought was to pick up and leave – to be back with his mother in Senegal.  Brain surgery terrified Mamadou, but his mother told him to have faith.

“At that time I couldn’t do anything. I cried almost everyday and I’d get nervous.  I was scared.”

PRAYER

Ndiaye stayed in the States and three months later, finally decided to go through with the procedure.

Hoping the bad news was behind him, Ndiaye woke from his surgery in Newport Beach only to learn the procedure did not go as well as he had hoped.  The tumor had only been decreased in size by about forty percent.

On came the next series of blood work, tests and doctor visits.  With the help of his host family, Mamadou met with surgeon after surgeon and it seemed none were a fit. 

Hesitant after the first procedure, Mamadou met with a final doctor in Santa Monica.  This would be the one to quell Ndiaye’s nerves.

What was it about the final surgeon that inspired Mamadou to agree to another procedure?

The doctor never promised complete success; it was the surgeon admitting it would be a challenge that made Mamadou feel safe.  Ndiaye could relate to looking the unknown in the face with determination.

“When he first arrived, I never knew if he would play,” said Jon Bahnsen, the Athletic Director and Head Varsity Boy’s basketball coach at Brethren Christian in Huntington Beach.

“When he came to the school midway through his sophomore year he had already had one surgery and then he had another one at the end of his sophomore year. We had a prayer time for him here on the campus the day of the [second] surgery.”

Mamadou had a few visitors as he recovered from the second procedure, including the high school basketball team.  This time they celebrated the news that the tumor had been removed.

Three months later, a follow-up scan confirmed the clean bill of health.

Ndiaye was tumor-free.

* * *

“He doesn’t talk about me,” said Ndiaye of his successful surgeon. “I don’t want that publicity.”

The surgeon says, “I see you on TV and you’re doing well.”

* * *

After his successful procedure, Mamadou started participating in an annual cancer walk in Anaheim every spring.

“You’re going to be alright,” Mamadou would say.  “I used to have a brain tumor.  I had surgery twice.”

His comments are usually met with confused faces or disbelieving eyes.  Though Mamadou doesn’t waver.  In case the people he meets at the walk need continued support or encouragement, he’ll give them his cell phone number so they can text him when they’re weary.

“They don’t usually see [a] 7’6” basketball player who used to have a tumor.  If I tell them [I had a] tumor, they don’t believe me. I give them hope, maybe one day you can be better than me.”

Former Irvine teammate Daman Starring, who played for the ’Eaters from 2010-2013, said of Mamadou, “He’s a 7’6” teddy bear.  He wouldn’t harm a fly and he genuinely cares about people. 

“I’ve seen Mamadou just be completely frustrated walking down the street when people are trying to take pictures and ask him questions, and then all of a sudden a kid will walk up to him and he’s more than willing to do anything and everything for that kid.  He’s so open to kids and people that he’s able to influence.”

TEACHINGS

Not all student-athletes meet summer camps with excitement; however, Ndiaye does with open arms.

When Irvine hosts its annual kid camps in the offseason, Ndiaye looks forward to the opportunity to help teach the next generation.

Grateful for everyone who’s invested in him, Ndiaye looks to any opportunity to give back.

One coach in particular who saw to it that Mamadou received the proper training was Bahnsen.

“At this level there wasn’t anyone that could matchup with him so I had to think outside the box with him just to keep him engaged and interested.

“It’s not normal, high school basketball.  It wasn’t… A lot of the kids, when he graduated were kind of like, ‘Phew’ now we can play normal high school basketball without the 7’6” guy in the middle at all times.  They loved having him on the team, don’t get me wrong, but it was different and at times challenging.” 

Bahnsen brought in assistant coaches to specifically help the teen who towered over everyone in his vicinity.  The hire included Jamal Sampson – a 6’11”, 258-pound center from Cal who bounced around the NBA for five seasons before playing another five outside of the league.  Sampson was tasked with tweaking Mamadou’s footwork to decrease his time getting up and down the court.

As Bahnsen shared, the biggest athletic challenge was conditioning.  When Mamadou showed up in the gym after his medical procedures, he was at least 20-pounds heaver than he is now at 300.

As a student, the biggest challenge for Mamadou was understanding what he had to accomplish in order to be eligible by the NCAA.

There were two paths he could take, detailed Bahnsen.  One, graduate and earn a high school diploma, sans hooping in Division I; or two, graduate and play in the NCAA.

Mamadou only saw one option.  He wanted to play.

ANTEATERS

At Brethren Christian, Mamadou attracted loads of attention.  Before his talent solicited the media, his 7’6” frame graced just about every local news station and front page of every local newspaper.

Bahnsen even reminisced about receiving a call from Good Morning America as they inquired about the giant in SoCal.

The once decently-attended Warriors’ games turned into sell-outs.  People clamored to get into the gym.

They wanted to see the tallest player.  They wanted to see the height. 

What they saw was the heart.

* * *

There’s a signed photo that hangs above coach Bahnsen’s desk among the many trophies, team photos and newspaper clippings.  Mamadou is mid-dunk wearing a jersey that’s at least two or three sizes too small.

That photo is from Bahnsen’s favorite game of the Mamadou era.  Mamadou had been injured and blood stained his custom-size top, so he borrowed the next-largest jersey from a teammate, who was more than a foot shorter at six-foot-four.

The Warriors would lose that game Mamadou’s senior year, but Bahnsen looks back on a character victory.

* * *

While Ndiaye played for the Warriors, he began frequenting open gyms at the college located just a few miles from his home.

UC Irvine was just up the street so it was a perfect place to get a taste of Division I-level competition.

It was the time of Irvine’s Starring, Adam Folker and Derrick Flowers – a few players Mamadou rattled off when mentioning who influenced his decision to become an Anteater.

At the time, the ’Eaters had never been to the NCAA Tournament.  Ndiaye had just started to play AAU ball and so began the flood of offers to play collegiate hoops.

While a trip to the big dance was a goal of the center’s, he had interest from schools like Georgetown, Oregon, Arizona, Baylor, USC.

Mamadou wrestled with the decision. 

The time was chaotic: finals at school, a phone that wouldn’t stop ringing, an endless line of questions from people curious about his destination.

Having been around UCI and the coaches and the players, Mamadou forged a relationship with the community, especially with coach Ryan Badrtalei and head coach Russell Turner.

After a lot of thought, Ndiaye called Badrtalei.

“I want to come play with you,” Mamadou said.

And it was as simple as that.

Mamadou then remembers the flood of inquiries sounding something like, “Are you crazy?”

But, Ndiaye never questioned his decision.

“I can leave my name there,” he said of Irvine.  “They’ve never been to the NCAA Tournament. So I said, ‘Ok I’m going to be the first one to take them to the NCAA Tournament.  Before I leave here, we’re going to go to the NCAA Tournament,’ and I signed.”

ANGEL

It was an early morning.  The team was meeting for a workout at the crack of dawn.

As the players showed up, something wasn’t right.

The coaches called Mamadou into their offices as the rest of the team waited for instruction.

Instead of instruction, the workout was cancelled.  A phone call from home sent news that Mamadou’s mother had passed away.

“That’s one of my most difficult days of my time here at Irvine,” said Turner. When life happens, and is impossible to deal with as it was in that situation, emotionally, it’s hard.  It’s hard for everyone.”

Thousands of miles away, Mamadou felt like he couldn’t reach the things that mattered. He wanted to go home.

“I wanted to stop doing basketball, school, everything,” said Mamadou.

Being overseas, Ndiaye was not able to attend his mother’s funeral and it broke his heart.

“With him, his personality being so upbeat, seeing him during that time, was weird,” said Jaron Martin, Mamadou’s teammate and roommate of three years.  “It was hard. He prayed a lot, he spent a lot of time with his family up in Huntington Beach.”

With the support of his friends and family, Mamadou came back to school and returned for his third season with the ’Eaters.  His coaches and teammates told him to “do it for her” – to do it for his mother.

“They’re right,” said Mamadou. 

WINGSPAN

Up until this season Mamadou had been the tallest player in college basketball before 7’6” Tacko Fall debuted at Central Florida earlier this year.

As a true freshman, Mamadou broke the UC Irvine and the Big West Conference single-season record with 106 blocked shots and set a school and league record for blocks in a single contest with 11 on Feb. 6, 2013 versus Long Beach State.

After shooting 70.7 percent from the field on the year, the newcomer earned the 2014 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year award for a season in which he made 25 straight field-goals in a six-game span from Jan. 2-25, just one field goal shy of the national record.

With 131 blocks after his freshman and sophomore campaigns, the junior entered his third collegiate season on the heels of Irvine’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament after helping UCI earn its first-ever Big West Tournament crown.

After claiming the tournament title in Anaheim, California and the league’s automatic bid to the dance, Irvine drew Louisville in the first round of the Tournament.

Once the ’Eaters touched down in Seattle, it was a circus of people asking for Mamadou’s photo.  Everyone wanted to see the tallest player in collegiate hoops.

Someone once asked, how does he fit in when he was born to stand out?

As those closest to him will tell you, he doesn’t try to fit in.  Just “Do the Dou,” as he likes to say.

“He’ll wear blue and red leggings with green basketball shorts and a yellow shirt and a hat or a beanie sometimes,” said Martin.  “Whenever you’re with him, all of the attention is on Mamadou.  That just comes with being him.  He’s used to it.

“Some stares he gets are kind of freakish stares. I wouldn’t want to be stared at like that.”

What might be even louder than his size or his clothes is how he interacts with others, despite the immeasurable amount of eyes glued to his stature.
 
Said Turner, “He’s incredibly positive in his dealings with other folks and I don’t quite know how he does it.”

“He included everybody,” said Bahnsen, reminiscing on when Mamadou was a Warrior.  “We’re a sixth through 12th grade so if you could imagine a little sixth grader running around the halls here and running into Mamadou at 7’6” he would give them the same amount of time as his peers that were in his class.  He always had time for a high-five or a hug.”

With his photo plastered all over Irvine, from the side of busses to posters in shopping malls, Mamadou has become the face of UCI men’s basketball.

Said Starring, “He’s put Irvine on the map and allowed people to recognize who we are as a school, who we are as a team.  And I don’t think there’s anybody else who would be able to do that except Mamadou.”

When asked about Mamadou’s reach, coach Bahnsen said, “It’s huge.  You think about him and how big he is and his wingspan, but it’s literal.  He just demonstrated that no matter who you are, you can be welcoming and accept people no matter what.”

With open arms like that, his reach might be a little wider than 8’3”.

Story by Olivia Phelps (@OliviaGPhelps). Video edited by Joe Hood.