If you had could travel back in time by a decade and tell the young Christ Koumadje that he would make a living playing professional basketball in Europe, he would probably respond with a blank expression and ask you: ‘What’s basketball?’
Christ Koumadje, ALBA: 'I don’t think I touched a basketball until I was 15'
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Born in Chad in central Africa, the ALBA Berlin center Koumadje had zero exposure to the sport during his early years: “I didn’t grow up playing basketball. Where I’m from, people mostly play soccer or do track. I played soccer and did some track, but when I got taller I lost my speed,” he reflected.
“Basketball isn’t a big deal over there and I don’t think I touched a basketball until I was around 15. And even then it wasn’t organized, it was just having some fun with my friends.”
However, fate then intervened as three unconnected external factors - over which Koumadje had no control - led him towards his new passion. First, when Koumadje was 16 years old in 2013, serious political unrest in Chad led his mother to relocate more than 3,000 kilometers west to Senegal.
“It seemed like every day from 15 to 17 I was growing. I was like… ’what’s going on?!’”
“I moved to Senegal for school, to a more politically stable situation,” he explained. “Senegal was academically pretty good and it was also safe. We had an uprising [in Chad] in 2011 and it messed with the school year. We missed months of school. So my mom took the decision that the best thing to do right now is to go to a safe country. She has some family friends in Senegal so it was the best decision to go and stay with them.”
Second, that move coincided with a physical explosion for Koumadje, making him an obvious candidate for basketball as he developed to his current 2.23 meters height. “I hit my growth spurt!” he laughed. “I was always quite tall, but never this tall! It seemed like every day from 15 to 17 I was growing. I was like... 'what’s going on?!'”
The third and final piece of the puzzle that led Koumadje to his new sport came through a chance meeting with one of Senegal’s most important basketball youth development specialists.
“Fortunately I met a recruiter,” he explained. “Ibrahima N’Diaye is the guy who found me. He just saw my height and was like: ‘Yo, you’re pretty tall, come and work out with me! I have an academy.’ It was the Flying Star Academy in Dakar and six months later he got me a scholarship to go to Montverde Academy in Florida. Before then, I had no idea that I could go to play basketball in the States.”
Koumadje’s new mentor was well placed to develop the careers of young players: his brother, Mamadou N’Diaye, was a first-round NBA draft pick who played for four different teams, including three seasons with Toronto Raptors, and also had a handful of EuroLeague games with Zalgiris Kaunas in the 2007-08 season.
“He knew the process of getting players set up with school in the States,” a grateful Koumadje explained. “At that time I had no idea what was going on. I was just ready for the best situation and he hooked it up.”
Leaving Africa for North America as a teenager might seem like a daunting prospect, especially as Koumadje only spoke basic English, but the earlier upheaval of moving from Chad to Senegal had prepared him to take the jump across the Atlantic in stride.
“I was really excited because everybody from back home knows, we have a lot of people who could be professional but they don’t get the chance to play basketball at the highest level and live up to their potential,” he said. “So I was really excited, I had no worries. I was just excited for this new chapter because I had already left home at a young age so I was ready to move again.”
Now, the 25-year-old Koumadje is establishing himself as one of the fastest-rising talents in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, averaging 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds during his first full season in the competition.
His journey surely still has a long way to travel, but the path he has taken so far ensures he’s more than ready to follow any twists and turns that may come along.