Tanor Ngom
| No. 34 – Florida State Seminoles | |
|---|---|
| Position | Center |
| League | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 19 January 1998 Dakar, Senegal |
| Nationality | Senegalese |
| Listed height | 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) |
| Listed weight | 236 lb (107 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College |
|
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Elhadj Abdoulaye Tanor Ngom (born 19 January 1998) is a Senegalese college basketball player for the Florida State Seminoles of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). He previously played for the Ryerson Rams.
Early life and youth career
A native of Dakar, Senegal, Ngom stood about 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) when he was 12 years old.[1] He began taking interest in basketball at age 14, even though his father initially wanted him to focus on his education instead. Due to the lack of facilities, he ran on the beach and did push-ups to train, impressing his father. At age 15, Ngom moved away from his family for three years to play for the youth programs of Unicaja Málaga in Spain and Nürnberg Falcons in Germany.[2] In 2017, he was discovered by Ryerson head coach Roy Rana at the SEED Project's Hoop Forum in Dakar, an event featuring top high school players in Senegal.[1][3] Ngom obtained a visa to attend school in Canada and chose to play basketball under Rana at U Sports program Ryerson, despite also drawing interest from National Collegiate Athletic Association programs.[4]
College career
Ryerson
Ngom played three years of basketball for U Sports program Ryerson, leading the Rams to a 55–15 record. When he joined the team, at age 19, he stood about 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in).[5] As a freshman, Ngom averaged 5.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game and was named to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) All-Rookie Team.[6] In the offseason, he gained almost 13.7 kg (30 lb), which helped him improve as a sophomore.[7] In August 2018, Ngom became the first player from a Canadian university to participate in the Nike Skills Challenge.[1] In his sophomore season, he averaged 11.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. He set Ryerson's single-season blocks record and tied a program record with a field goal percentage of 63.8 percent in the regular season.[6] After the season, Ngom declared for the 2019 NBA draft, before returning to school.[7] He missed the first six games of his junior season with an injury. On 11 January 2020, Ngom grabbed a program-record 23 rebounds to go with 23 points in an 87–82 win over Western.[8] He finished the season averaging 16.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game and was named a Second Team OUA All-Star.[6] In 60 career games at Ryerson, Ngom averaged 10.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, shooting 61 percent from the field and led the team to a 55-15 record.[9]
Florida State
On 10 July 2020, Ngom signed a grant-in-aid agreement to play basketball for Florida State.[9]
References
- ^ a b c Ewing, Lori (22 November 2018). "Ryerson seven-footer Tanor Ngom hopes to break U Sport barrier in NBA draft". Toronto Star. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ Ash, Peter (24 October 2017). "How the Rams men's basketball team scored their biggest recruit". The Eyeopener. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ Briggs-Morris, Connor (5 December 2018). "The Next Basketball Star Might Be Playing for Ryerson". Student Life Network. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ MacLeod, Robert (2 October 2017). "Basketball From Senegal to Toronto, Ryerson Rams recruit Tanor Ngom in pursuit of collegiate glory". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "7'2" Tanor Ngom poised to transform Ryerson Rams basketball". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ a b c "Tanor Ngom – 2019-20 – Basketball (M)". Ryerson University. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ a b Bellus, Luke (19 April 2019). "Report: Ryerson centre Ngom declares for NBA Draft". The Sports Network. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ Axelrod, Gavin (11 January 2020). "Ngom's record-setting performance edges Rams past Mustangs". The Eyeopener. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ a b Weiler, Curt (11 July 2020). "FSU men's basketball lands commitment, signature from center Tanor Ngom". Tallahassee Democrat. FSU Sports Information. Retrieved 11 July 2020.