FORDHAM, N.Y. -- The manicured lawn and classic gothic architecture that make up Fordham University is truly a world away from Mali, Africa.
And inside Fordham's Rose Hill Gym awaits a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Mohammed Bah.
"I like it," Bah said prior to the start of the second session of the Five-Star Basketball camp Monday afternoon.
The trip marked Bah's second time in New York City, and his first as a Five-Star camper.
Bah had a support system in place at Five Star as two of his AAU teammates, Aaron Calixte and Adrian Oliveira, attended the camp.
At first glance, Bah appears to be the prototypical space-eating power forward/center coaches covet. Think a raw Kendrick Perkins of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. His size portends a player who cannot be moved off the low blocks offensively and a lane-clogger defensively.
Both will entice the coaches at Five Star and beyond. There is also Bah's willingness to learn. He is a sponge, wanting to be taught the details of the game by the coaches at Five Star Basketball.
"I like the coaches, they're so aggressive," Bah said. "They're teaching me to box out, rebound, take a rebound away." He added that the coaches were working with him to improve his offensive game and shot-blocking.
"Here we work together," Bah said when asked what the difference was between the coaches at Five Star and his AAU team. "Sometimes they can pick you to teach you something. I'm big, so they can teach me some movements to [use]."
Coaches at Lehigh and Stamford, among others, are hoping Bah employs the lessons learned at Five Star for them in the very near future. He is getting legit interest from the Division 1 programs and others could be lining up soon.
Yet Bah is employing a very micro philosophy as he concerns himself with today and not what tomorrow may bring.
"I don't think about it, this year," Bah said. .
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Leigh Klein is the owner of Five-Star Basketball Camps and formerly on staff at Texas and Rhode Island. Each year at Five-Star, he trains hundreds of future college basketball and NBA stars such as Michael Jordan, Grant Hill, LeBron James and Kevin Durant. He will be blogging for 247Sports on college basketball and recruiting.
Follow Leigh on Twitter @leighalanklein and let him know what you think about the blog.
- Leigh Klein
- contributor to 247Sports - 247Sports