Jonesboro sophomore forward Salisu Yahaya has been oozing with potential, but it wasn’t until this past weekend it started to show.
Yahaya, 6-7.195 pounds is a newcomer to the game since moving to the United States two years ago from Nigeria. He and the 16-under Arkansas Wings Elite played in the AAU DI State tournament in Little Rock.
Jonesboro Coach Wes Swift, who also coaches the Wings Elite, said Yahaya shined during the weekend competition.
“We’ve been waiting for that light bulb to come on,” Swift said. “He’s just an infant as far as playing basketball. He’s starting to looking the part of a big time athlete, but when you’ve only played for two years, everything is really kind of fast out on the floor. This weekend, he had three or four really, really good games.”
Yahaya had 12 points and 10 rebounds against the Arkansas Wings EYB team that features 7-3 Connor Vanover of Arkansas Baptist and 6-10 Daniel Gafford of El Dorado. Swift said Yahaya came away with confidence.
“He’s got to start believing he’s that good,” Swift said. “He went right at Connor and Gafford. That’s what impressed me more than anything. Those are two big kids that can play and he’s finished against them really, really well. He took his time and of course out rebounded both of them.”
Swift saw Yahaya play his most consistent basketball yet.
“He’s just playing physical,” Swift said. “He rebounds the ball really well, he rebounds the ball outside his area. Defensively, he’s very aware where he’s suppose to be. His positioning was great, which allowed him to block a few more shots without fouling.”
Yahaya, who already holds a scholarship offer from LeHigh, will have the opportunity to add to his offer list when college coaches are able to watch him during the July evaluation period.
“What we’ve done today is basically sent out the information about his weekend,” Swift said on Monday. “Because we’ve been kind of waiting for him to have a breakout moment and this was kind of it. We thought it was time to show the coaches for the July period. We’re trying to get the word out so people will come out and watch him.”