ReboundGH

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."

Brimah's breakthrough game came against Central Florida on Jan. 11, when he had 20 points and eight rebounds.

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.

Keta Senior High have won the National High School Championship(Sprite Ball) after being to the finals four times over the past seven years. Ketasco beat Presec-Legon 25-18 to win the title. The two-day event saw the best 16 teams from across Ghana converge in Accra to compete to be national champions. Ketasco's only loss of the tournament was against Adisco in the group stages on day one. In the girls' event, first-timers Real AMASS from Kumasi got gold after beating Aggrey Memorial who have been dominant over the past three years.

Post by Rebound_gh.

Nima U16 Boys participated in the 2nd annual Holiday HoopFest, winning 2/3 games. S/O to all invited teams and Thanks to the organizers (HCH) for such a wonderful festive tournament. #Letthekidsplays

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.."

After about four months of exciting competition, the first edition of the Grassroots Development Basketball League ended in Accra last Saturday. The GDBL is currently the biggest league for U13s and U16s in the country. The finals day had all teams present and there was a lot beautiful basketball played by the kids at the Central Courts. Here are a few of the photos from the day.