November 12, 2003

Ben Hansen
GOAZCATS.com

Tangara becomes the second member of UA?s 2004 recruiting class, joining 6-5 shooting guard Jawann McClellan. He chose Arizona over Louisville, Memphis, Florida, Michigan and Miami (Fla.).

Getting a guy like Tangara is exactly what UA needed to stabilize a relatively undersized and thin frontcourt, mostly because UA?s never had a rebounder quite like Tangara, a guy who attacks the ball whether it?s in his area or not, and has a passion for rebounding that is rarely seen on the high school (or college, for that matter) level.

It had been known for quite some time that Arizona was where Mohamed wanted to play in college, but he let GOAZCATS know through email that he just needed to take a visit to get confirmation.

That happened this weekend.

Tangara hopped on a flight from Durham, NC at around 4:00 a.m. EDT Saturday morning so that he would have a full day to take in everything Arizona had to offer on his visit. He met with the coaching staff, the players, toured the campus, saw the facilities, and even played in an afternoon pick-up game session.

According to his legal guarding, Linzy Davis, it was enough to secure Arizona in Tangara?s mind as where he wanted to be.

Reports from the pick-up game from GOAZCATS.com founder Jim Storey stated that although Tangara appeared to be very raw offensively, the native of Mali, Africa displayed an outstanding work ethic, hustle, and constant energy while going up against the likes of UA centers Channing Frye and Isaiah Fox.

Mohamed will get his chance to go up against Frye and Fox as seniors next fall (if Frye stays in school and doesn?t bolt for the NBA, of course), and will also battle it out with to-be sophomores Kirk Walters and Chris Dunn at the power forward spot.

Recruiting gurus from around the nation fell in love with the idea of Tangara playing for Louisville, and many websites had him leaning towards the Cardinals as recently as the past couple weeks. However, Tangara and Davis never wavered on which school was out in front all along, with Davis even telling GOAZCATS on August 7th, ?logically it?s a no-brainer, it?s Arizona.?

What this means for Arizona is that an offseason filled with pessimism among its fans and losses from its frontcourt has now become a winning situation. Second-year assistant Josh Pastner out-worked the competition once again and landed his fifth commitment out of a possible six recruits in the last year. Mohamed Tangara made it clear early on in the process that Pastner?s presence played a vital role in him considering UA.

?I love Josh,? he told me. ?He is always telling me how much he is interested in me and that I am (Arizona?s) number one guy. He is my friend and he is nice.?

Tangara said all along that he wanted to play for a school that could develop him for the NBA, which is his ultimate goal, though for different reasons than most elite-level recruits his age.

?I want to get to the League so I can (have enough money) to bring my mother over from (Mali) Africa,? Tangara said. ?I know about Arizona (getting players into the NBA), Josh always tells me.?

UA has sent 24 of its players to the League since 1989, the most of any college program in the nation during that span.

Arizona got in early with Tangara, dating back to the Nike All-America Camp in 2002. It was there that he first caught the eye of the coaching staff with his uncanny ability to rebound the basketball and show on the court that he most definitely lives up to his surname Tangara, which means ?Warrior? in his native Bambara language.

Mohamed came over from Mali in December of 2000, and he didn?t speak much English at all. Davis arranged for him to come to the United States and to be his legal guardian as well. Over the last three years, Tangara?s game has been a steady improvement, as has his assimilation into American culture and society. He now speaks and understands English much better than he ever has, and he gets along with everyone he meets.

That?s the best thing about Tangara, actually. He?s probably the single-most humble and gracious player with that kind of high profile image in the country. After every interview he sincerely thanks those who ask him questions, most of which he has been asked in the thousands of times. When he writes email, he starts off with ?Thank you for writing me, I appreciate everything you do for me??, and ? unlike a lot of other kids ? he never lets the fame and exposure go to his head.

Off the court he truly is a ?gentle giant?. On the court, well, he is as gentle as a sledgehammer.

Because of Tangara?s obvious raw offensive game, it?s not unlikely that he could spend as many as three years at Arizona before heading to NBA. He has so much potential and room for development that it?s conceivable that he will be much more highly thought of three years from now in his class, than his Top 25-50 rankings right now would indicate.

Opinions vary on where Tangara ranks in the class of 2004, but most see that he has an upside that is matched by only a few select big men in the country. He has the ability to come right in and be a dominant rebounder and solid defender. Offensively, he will be a long term project for UA big man coach Pastner and Lute Olson as well, but Davis already has him improving rapidly on what he terms his ?Olajuwon moves?, which are named after former Houston Rockets MVP Hakeem Olajuwon.

All in all, the weekend couldn?t have been better or more productive for Mohamed Tangara or the Arizona basketball program. The Wildcats got a player who was their No. 1 target all along, and Tangara officially chose the school where he had told us he always wanted to be.

UA now has two more scholarships to use on the 2004 class, and with Tangara and McClellan wrapped up, it looks like the Cats are on their way back to securing yet another top five class, especially if they can land Shaun Livingston and another big man.

*This story was originally published August 31st, 2003 by GOAZCATS.com

-Ben Hansen, Senior Editor
GOAZCATS.com