Gorgui Dieng's Journey From Senegal To The NBA
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Gorgui Dieng joins in on a radio show, talking and taking questions from fans. It's a major statement for a young man who could not speak English when he came to the U.S. seven years ago.
But how did he come to basketball?
"I started, saw my sisters playing basketball and I thought it was a good sport," Dieng said. "I was making fun of them, my oldest brothers was playing, I was like, 'You guys soft,' and stuff. I was playing soccer and I get to the point that I couldn't find cleats, I was tall. I was like, I'm just going to go see what basketball is like and I fall in love with that game and since then I just keep playing."
How did coach Rick Pitino in Louisville find Dieng?
"Coach P, he came to Huntington Prep in West Virginia to recruit a player named Justin Coleman. After he came, he watched the game and he was like, 'I think I want that kid right there,'" Dieng said.
He has established himself as a starter in the NBA, in large part because coaches believe he is committed to winning first -- something that has not been easy for this team this season.
"It's halfway through the season and things are – we had a, I don't want to say we've had a tough season, but there's a lot of ups and downs, you know? We got some good stretches and I think we have some games that we lost that we should've won," Dieng said.
Winning to Dieng also means back home, where he is helping spearhead an effort to get used hospital equipment back to his people in Senegal.
"It just started, one day I went home and I went to the hospital, for some reason I went to the hospital and I saw someone, some lady that lay on the ground," he said. "She just lay on the ground, she couldn't have bed, nothing. I asked why she lay on the ground, they were like, 'There was not enough beds for everyone.' I said, 'Doctor, can I visit the rooms?' The doctor was like, 'Yeah, sure, you can,' and I go have a tour for the hospital. It was just a disaster. The building was there, but there's nothing inside the hospital."
Now Dieng's living the American dream with a new contract.
"To get rewarded, everything you do in life," he said. "I think sometimes it's good, we get rewarded and we stay hungry and keep working."
