Mo Konateh is putting the UAAP community on notice as a player to watch in FEU’s youth brigade.
FEU’s Mo Konateh was eight years old when he started playing basketball in Senegal before he eventually made his way to the Philippines at the recommendation of his agent.
While it was a leap of faith, such an opportunity could also set the foundations for a long-term basketball career. So even though it meant leaving his homeland, Konateh took the gamble to travel to a foreign country.
“I think, after I graduated, my agent told me to come here [to the Philippines]. There’s a good program, and there’s good basketball. And I said, why not, to try it, and it’s good for me also because I learn a lot, and I develop more, I’m getting better, better, better, and it’s good for me,” he shared with The GAME in a recent interview.
And the rest is history, with the 19-year-old becoming a major contributor in FEU’s UAAP Season 87 squad. Konateh is currently averaging a league-best 17.38 rebounds, on top of his 9.75 points and 2.63 blocks after eight games played with the Tamaraws.
Konateh has also set Season 87’s single-game rebounding record with a 13-point and 26-rebound effort in FEU’s win against Adamson to begin Round 2. In doing so, Konateh eclipsed his 25 rebounds against La Salle and Mike Phillips in Round 1 last August.
“Coach Sean [Chambers] told us to box out. It’s been like four months, five months, and he’s told us every day to box out. And once I box out, the rebound is [mine], and the other team also forgets to box me out and I just go for a rebound every day,” Konateh said.
“Coach V [Vic Pablo], Coach Gab [Severino], they told me to go for rebound every day. They tell me ‘Mo, box out, go for a rebound. You can score by that and you can help our team win’.”
As mentioned, FEU’s new head coach is legendary PBA import Sean Chambers. As Alaska’s resident reinforcement, 6-foot-2 Chambers wrapped up his 12-year PBA career averaging 13.0 rebounds despite matching up with much taller players in his day.
“Yeah, I learn a lot from him, because he was a big man, so like, I learn a lot in practice. He told me, do this Mo, do this, do this, do this, and don’t do this. And I just follow his instructions every day so I can get better and better, and hopefully, we can do it this year,” said Konateh.
The Gambian also cherishes representing FEU thanks to the coaches and players he has been surrounded with. Likewise, he’s also enjoying his time in the UAAP due to the quality of play he’s experienced so far.
“It’s physical, it’s hard, the level is high, and it’s different from my country, and I just have to play, and that’s good for me also. Because after the UAAP, I can play overseas, and I can do what I want to do, like play pro,” he said.
Konateh is part of a Season 87 FSA class that includes UE’s Precious Momowei, and UST’s Mo Tounkara. Despite being the youngest, he’s made a strong case to be an elite reinforcement along with his aforementioned peers as young FEU’s anchor.
“Yeah, they are good, and they play good basketball also. Just keep going, and we can do it, we can do it,” Konateh said of his fellow reinforcements. “[I want to face] everybody there. I’m going to challenge everybody [fellow FSAs] and we’re going to see what we can have.”
Without a doubt, the sky’s the limit for Mo Konateh and the impact that he has on the rebuilding of the FEU Tamaraws. If he’s already putting up huge numbers as a rookie, then what more when he fully adjusts to life in the UAAP?
Banner image courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.