July 24, 2007

SENEGAL (SMU) --- SMU junior center Bamba Fall has been named to Senegal's national team for the upcoming 2007 African Championships from Aug. 15-25 in Angola.

Fall recently competed for the Senegalese national team in the Global Games held at Moody Coliseum on SMU's campus from July 5-7, as the team was finalizing its roster for the African Championships. The 7-1 native of St. Louis, Senegal, is the youngest member of the national team at 21-years-old.

"It is a great honor to be able to play with the Senegalese national team," states Fall. "I look forward to representing my country and SMU. This has always been a dream of mine. Thank you to all of the people from Senegal, and the people at SMU, who helped make this possible."

The Senegalese are the top-seed in Pool B and will face Mali on Aug. 17, the Ivory Coast on Aug. 18, and Egypt on Aug. 19. Senegal's pool games will be in the city of Lubango. The top-two teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinal round, which begins in Angola's capital city of Luanda on Aug. 21. The championship game is slated for Aug. 25, with the champion qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

For SMU in 2006-07, Fall was a Conference USA all-defensive team selection after leading the league and finishing 19th nationally at 2.48 blocks per game. He also averaged 7.1 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 54.4 percent from the field.

"This is a great day for Bamba," says SMU head coach Matt Doherty. "To be selected to play for your country in international competition is a great honor. He will be an outstanding representative for Senegal and SMU."

For more information on the 2007 African Championships, visit http://www.afrobasket2007.com/.