Rainbow Warriors’
6-foot-8 recruit
likes Hawaii’s
similarity to Senegal

Ahmet Tidiane Gueye's size and athletic ability made him an attractive prospect for college coaches. What could make him even more valuable for the Hawaii basketball team is his ability to learn quickly.

When Gueye (pronounced Ghee) moved from Senegal to Utah last year to further his education and basketball career he had little experience with the American game and less with the English language. Since then he's developed into a promising player and a fluent speaker.

"It was really difficult because you have to learn not only basketball, but you have to learn the language and you have to learn the society," Gueye said. "I had never spoken English before, so I had to learn. But it's all good now."

UH officially announced yesterday that Gueye, a forward at Salt Lake Community College, will join the Rainbow Warriors for the 2005-06 season. His national letter of intent arrived on campus late last week but wasn't officially processed and released until yesterday.

UH coaches weren't allowed to comment on the signing until then.

"He's a very fast and athletic individual," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "He came to America and didn't know much about basketball and he really picked up the game quickly."

Gueye (6-foot-8, 220 pounds) was listed as Ahmet Tidiane on SLCC's roster and averaged 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game last season. But UH associate coach Jackson Wheeler said the numbers aren't indicative of his potential.

"Later in the year he just came on like gangbusters and got heavily recruited because of that and we're excited we have him," said Wheeler, who coordinates the 'Bows' recruiting efforts. "His stats are very deceiving because he didn't play hardly at the beginning of the year."

Gueye picked UH over Utah, Brigham Young, Utah State and Boise State. He will be the third SLCC product to play for UH, following Troy Ostler and current UH forward Jeff Blackett.

"We know (SLCC coach Norm Parrish), and any time he recommends a player we know we're going to get someone good and he recommended this kid and we liked what we saw," Wheeler said.

"He's big and physical, very athletic and very fast. We like to have a lot of big guys, everybody knows that's a big emphasis in our program and if they can run and jump it sure helps."

Gueye started playing basketball at 14 and said Hawaii's similarity to his hometown of Dakar, Senegal, was one of the deciding factors in making his commitment.

"The first thing that I really liked was the fact that it looked like home with the ocean and everything," he said. "And I liked the coaches and the system and I felt I could fit in well in their system."

The Rainbows are also expected to receive a letter of intent from Eastern Wyoming guard Matt Lojeski before the early signing period ends on Wednesday.

Slam Dunk Thursday: Murphy's Bar and Grill will host the UH basketball team's Slam Dunk fund-raiser Thursday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Hoops will be set up along Merchant Street for slam-dunk, 3-point and free-throw shooting contests, and silent and live auctions will be held.

Tickets are $100 with all proceeds going to the basketball program. For more information, call 531-0422.