Boubacar Aw

Boubacar Richard Aw (born June 22, 1975) is a Senegalese former professional basketball player. After growing up in Thiès, Aw moved to the United States in 1993 and he played high school basketball in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina; he then went on to play 4 years in college at Georgetown. After graduating from college, Aw had a 10-year professional career in Central and South America. He was also a member of the Senegalese national basketball team, with which he won the gold medal during the 1997 FIBA Africa Championship and participated in the 1998 FIBA World Championship. After retiring from playing basketball, Aw has become a teacher and youth basketball coach.

High school career Aw was born in Thiès, Senegal into a numerous family: his father had three wives, and Aw had 19 half-siblings. During a youth basketball tournament, Aw met Craig Esherick, who at the time was an assistant coach at Georgetown, and was invited to move to the United States to attend Georgetown. Aw moved to the United States in 1993, being hosted by Gary Battle, a teacher and basketball coach at East Columbus High School in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina.

College career Aw signed to play for Georgetown in 1994. There he found another Senegalese player, Cheikh Yaya Dia, who was a sophomore in 1994–95. In his first season at Georgetown under coach John Thompson, Aw played 30 games, playing as a backup forward. He was the 6th best rebounder (2.5) and the 8th best scorer (4 points per game) on the team in his freshman year, and had his highest-scoring performance with 17 points against UConn on February 14, 1995.

In his sophomore season, coach Thompson promoted Aw to a starting role, alongside Jerome Williams. playing 18.8 minutes per game, and participated in the 1996 NCAA tournament, during which Georgetown reached the Elite Eight, where they lost to UMass.

As a junior, Aw had a more relevant role in the team, following the graduation of seniors Othella Harrington and Jerome Williams. Aw saw an improvement in his offensive contribution, increasing his scoring average to 7.4 points per game, and was the third-best rebounder on the team with 5 per game (behind Dia and Jahidi White); he also shot a career-high 53.9% from the field.

In his senior season, Aw was named team captain. He then recorded a new career high in scoring with 24 points on February 17, 1998 against Pittsburgh.

College statistics

Professional career After his senior season at Georgetown, Aw was automatically eligible for the 1998 NBA draft, but he was not selected by an NBA franchise. In December 1998 he signed a professional contract for Belgrano de San Nicolás of the Argentine Liga Nacional de Básquet. In his first season as a professional, In early 2004 he left to join Chilean club Universidad Católica, participating in the 2004 Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol during which he averaged 22.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. In February 2004 he signed for Quilmes, playing 23 games (13.1 points, 6.7 rebounds) in the Argentine LNB.

After playing another season in Mexico with Ola Roja in 2004, and earned an all-star selection. He then signed for Estudiantes de Olavarría in late December 2004, and played 9 games in Argentina (18.3 points, 5.6 rebounds) before leaving the team in February 2005. Later that year he signed for Fuerza Guinda de Nogales, a Mexican team that participated in the CIBACOPA, averaging 22.7 points per game.

In 2006 he signed again for Ola Roja, taking part in the 2006 LNBP season and receiving an All-Star selection.