Editorβs note: This article is part of the Starβs 2018-19 college basketball guide, which ran in Sundayβs paper.
The shoelaces were the curly kind, like a Jack-in-the-Box french fry. Omar Ndiaye took one look at them and said, βNah.β
βI wasnβt feeling them,β he said, years later.
So Ndiaye spent an entire day learning how to tie regular laces, and he practiced and he practiced, like any other stubborn kid, and when he was done, and he learned how to tie those laces, he showed his mom and he threw the curly shoelaces away, and he knew he would be alright, and she knew he would be alright.
Because Ndiaye, a senior guard at Northern Arizona, wasnβt any other stubborn kid. He was born without a right hand.
Which make his dribble-drives all the more impressive, his 3-pointers a thing of beauty, his no-look passes jaw-dropping.
Thatβs what caught NAU head coach and former Arizona Wildcats student manager Jack Murphyβs eye.
But first, Murphy got an assist from a fellow Wildcat.
βThe reason Omar is here is because of A.J. Bramlett,β Murphy said. βI love him to death. A.J. cares about people as much as anybody. A.J. met Omar in high school, worked him out and trained him, and the fall of his senior year, texted me, βIβm gonna send you film of a kid, his dream is to play D-1,β and I was just floored by everything he was capable of doing.β
Ndiaye was a budding star for Monte del Sol High School in Santa Fe, where he averaged 16 points per game as a junior and more than 21 per game as a senior. He met Bramlett through his high school coach β βA.J., thatβs my dude,β he says β and they worked out together.
Murphy brought Ndiaye out for an unofficial visit, not realizing that he had already applied to attend NAU.
βI came down to watch a game, met Coach Murph, and it was a surreal feeling at first,β he said. βI dreamed about this. I didnβt think it would come true. It was really simple, and thatβs why I have a lot of respect for Coach Murphy. As soon as A.J. told him about me, Murph was all for it. It wasnβt even a long process.β
Ndiaye was one of nine newcomers his freshman, a year after the team won 23 games with five seniors playing major roles, and, Murphy said, βItβs not like I had to sit down the three guys left. From Day 1, he was one of the guys. β¦ I coach him as hard as I coach anybody. But heβs got a great sense of humor about him.β
Murphy tells a story that sums up Ndiayeβs perspective on life.
βWe have a kids summer camp, and one of my good buddies brought his kids, theyβre running around all week, and they theyβre going out to California for a beach vacation,β Murphy said. βMy buddyβs wife says to me, βDo me a favor, tell these kids itβs safe to go in the water, that it didnβt happen.β What didnβt happen? βOmar told them a shark bit his arm off.β
βAnd Omar is just dying there laughing.β
It is a perspective that Ndiaye has had his whole life.
βI wouldnβt change a thing about myself,β he said.
Added Murphy: βJust today at practice, heβs running scout team, and Omarβs coming off a cut, and a guy throws it wide. Omar says, βIf you havenβt noticed, I donβt have a hand.β Heβs quick-witted, snappy. He lightens the mood, but also, when we get in a serious setting, heβs the one to get the guys pumped.β
Basketball, Ndiaye said, gives him the outlet he needs. He started playing at age 6.
βIt made me feel like I wasnβt different,β Ndiaye said. βIn some ways if Iβm in an empty gym, its meditation to me.β
Basketball has given Ndiaye a platform to talk about his struggles β and his perseverance. Heβs played in five games for the Lumberjacks and hit two 3-pointers.
βItβs still hard at times,β he said. βIβm breaking barriers, trying to break down misconceptions people have on disabled people. There are still going to be some people who doubt you.β
That only gives Ndiaye a chance to open their eyes and drop their jaws. That feeling β when he balls out against a guy who has totally underestimated him β thereβs nothing like it.
βItβs kind of hard to describe,β he said. βItβs a confidence boost. Stepping into a gym, people look at you funny, and I make one shot. OK, he might have been lucky. But I get in the groove, and Iβm surprising people.β