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Amida Brimah Becomes First Ghanaian to Play & Win NCAA Title Match

Brimah(35) and teammates start celebrating.
Photo courtesy: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

University of Connecticut freshman and 7ft Ghanaian centre, Amida Brimah became the first Ghanaian to ever play on a team in Division 1 NCAA championship game - and win! We've been following  Amida's progress right from the day he left the shores of Ghana to play ball in the states and have even made jokes about how all Ghanaian hoop fans got to turn to Husky fans because of him - Well, there's still limited vacancy on the Husky-bandwagon; you can grab a free seat.
Brimah and Napier
Photo courtesy: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

 Amida's team also became the first 7-seed team to win a national title increasing the Huskies' trophy count to 4 of 4 appearances in championship games since their first trophy in 1999. Their coach; a Husky himself and former NBA player Kevin Ollie, who played on 13 teams in a 12 year is also among the few coaches to have won a national title within 2 years after signing a five year deal. Twitter kept buzzing with tweets of excitement for his success from former NBA teammates including Allen Iverson, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

Amida's numbers weren't monster numbers. This UConn team was led by senior guard and most outstanding player of the 2014 tournament, Shabazz Napier who finished with 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. His six-game NCAA Tournament averages were 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals. Brimah finished the game early with foul trouble(as usual) having made no points, 4 rebounds and 1 block in 13 minutes on the court.
Napier goes for 2 of his 22 while Brimah looks on
Photo courtesy: Getty Images
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Amida Brimah Makes AAC All-Rookie Team

Brimah showed off his plaque on his IG
The American Athletic Conference(AAC) announced its All-Conference and All-Rookie teams for 2014 earlier this week. If you are a basketball fan in Ghana, this should interest you because 7 foot centre Amida Brimah made the All-Rookie team.

 Brimah who's averaging 4.0ppg and 2.8rpg (but 5.1, 3.4 in the AAC) is still being described by many writers as a raw talent. The freshman from Accra is a natural shot-blocker and is third in the league with 2.5 bpg while playing 15.3 minutes a game; the leader has 2.9 bpg. 
Amida goes for block.

Coaches who faced UConn in January, and again later in the season, were impressed by Brimah's development, so his selection was no surprise. 

"He is getting better by the minute," Brown said on Feb. 23. 

 Said Louisville's Rick Pitino: "He has gotten a lot better, and he's going to be a great one when it's all said and done."
The all-rookie team was filled with big men, including Memphis' Austin Nichols, a favorite for rookie of the year honors, and John Egbunu and Chris Perry, both of South Florida. The lone guard was Louisville's Terry Rozier.
AAC individual awards to be presented Wednesday include player the year, rookie of the year, defensive player of the year, scholar athlete of the year, coach of the year, most improved player, sixth man and sportsmanship awards.
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Amida Brimah Starts Season With UConn

Brimah(under net) goes for a block in the Yale game.
 College basketball season is back! This time around basketball fans in Ghana have a Ghanaian player to keep an eye on; University of Connecticut's Amida Brimah. After verbally committing to UConn in January and joining officially in April, the now 7 foot freshman centre has played his first two games for the unbeaten coach Kevin Ollie side.

 “What impressed me was his passion. I always said to him a lot ‘you are passionate about your passion.’ He’s just a great kid. He’s still learning the game, but he had some blocks where he didn't even see his person and turned around, got an amazing block. And then you see his energy. Energy is contagious and when I put him in, he just changed the tempo of the game.” said Coach Ollie when asked about Brimah's performance after their first win of the season against Maryland in Brooklyn.

 Brimah, who currently comes off the bench behind sophomore Philip Nolan had 5 points(2/2FG and 1/3FT), 3 rebounds and 3 blocks in 15 minutes of play in the game against Maryland. In the game against Yale last night, he had 7 points(3/4FG and 1/2FT), 1 rebound and 7 blocks(of the team's total 13) in 24 minutes. 

 When asked after the first game if he thinks he can play at this level, Brimah answered saying; "I knew I could play but strength-wise I thought I wasn't ready, but to get better and stronger, in the summer I kept training and played in Pro-ams and when I got more comfortable I felt I could play with the people on this level.."
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Video: Amida Brimah Highlights

6'11' Ghanaian centre and UConn recruit Amida Brimah continues to get big numbers for his high school Archbishop Carroll. Brimah averaged 15.7 points, 11.6 rebounds and 7.2 blocks per game this season for Carroll, who were upset in the second round of the state playoffs over a week ago. Triple-doubles were the norm as he routinely blocked 10 or more shots in games, including a 20-point, 21-rebound, 11-block night in Carroll’s playoff-opening win on Feb. 14.
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6'11'' Ghanaian Amida Brimah Commits to UConn

Several reports online have confirmed that the Huskies have landed Ghanaian big man Amida Brimah via Archbishop Carroll, Florida after pursuing him for several months. The most concrete of them probably came from the 6'11'' shot blocker himself, when he tweeted ''I will be playing college basketball at University Of Connecticut #Blessed'' , the morning after an official visit to the University of Connecticut.

Brimah like most big men his age, is currently considered a project by most scouts who also believe that with his size alone, he will be a significant presence next year. 
  
''I picked UConn because the coaches are family oriented, education is taken seriously and I fit the style of play perfectly, they like to push the ball and I love running", Brimah revealed to one scout and ESPN analyst.
Brimah, right, with his guardian, Nana Baffi at UConn's game against Louisville Monday night. (John Woike, Hartford Courant)

 
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