Not only "Pirates"......Somali hoopers

Yaseen Musa

Yaseen Musa has been a household name in Middle-eastern basketball for years but only a few know that he is originally from Somalia. The lanky forward even applied for the NBA Draft a couple of years back but went undrafted and played also in a US minor league before settling back to Qatar where he is still star of the local league.


Highlight tape


Just check out the link to the video above!




















                                                                                                                                                                      Saeed Kosar

Another Somali professional basketball player is Saeed Kosar who nowadays goes by his Qatari name Saad Abdulrahman Ali. The 1,93 meters-tall forward grew up in Canada where he excelled in high school hoops and later also at Algonquin College under the eyes of coach Trevor Costello who calls Saeed and his brother Abdul "tremendous players with excellent basketball smarts". Kosar, who moved to Qatar in 2002 after graduating from college, represented then in 2004 the Qatari U-20 national-team since he had no chance to represent Somalia as there was virtually no national-team program and there is still none up to this day. Nowadays, the 1980-born is a regular fixture on the senior national-team of Qatar and in the starting five of his club-team AS Sadd for who he competed for in almost all of his years in the Qatari league. His younger brother Abdul is a standout at Algonquin College these days as the 1,88 meters forward is following in the big foot steps of Saeed. In twenty games played, the sophomore averaged 11,5 points per game and 4,5 rebounds per game for the Thunder who finished the season with 15 wins and five losses. Once he graduates, he could be heading over to the Gulf region as well to join his brother to form a formidable one-two punch in the league and maybe even in the national-team of Qatar.




Salah Abdo 

Point guard Salah Abdo struggled through injuries early in his career and is now back to full speed at tiny Trinity College in Connecticut. I found a great story that tells more about his struggles and how he sees himself as a role model for young Somalis around the globe. Abdo, who enrolled for a year at New Hampshire in the NCAA Division 1 ranks, could have strong 2010-2011 season to follow the few players out of his country into the Middle East to play professionally. But he is not the only one in his family who fell in love with the sport. Abdo also pointed me into a new direction. Better: To a new face on the block.

Osman Olol, a cousin of Salah, is currently enrolled at Monroe Community College in the state of New York.

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                                                              Osman Olol

Being a six foot nine inches tall forward, Olol should be receiving already some looks by NCAA D1 colleges who are in the need of a post player as he displayed his raw talent this first year by averaging 6,2 points per game in only 16 minutes per game. If given a chance, he might resurface in a solid program with more playing time available for him

Faisal Aden

Faisal Aden (pronounced Phase-el Aid-in) has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Washington State University men's basketball team next season, head coach Ken Bone announced Tuesday.

 “We’re excited about signing Faisal to a letter of intent,” Bone said. “He’s a 6-4 guard that can really shoot the ball from the perimeter…really good scorer, not just a shooter. He’s putting up big numbers right now (at Hillsborough Community College), he’s averaging about 30 points per game after like five games. He’s the type of guy that could come in and help us next year, whether he would play immediately next year or not, that’s for down the road, we’ll see what happens.”

Currently in his second season at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla., Aden (6-4, 185, G, San Diego, Calif.) moved from his native Somalia to San Diego, Calif. as a child before attending high school in Texas. He spent his junior and senior years at God’s Academy in Dallas prior to committing to New Mexico State in January 2008. Aden never played for the Aggies and transferred to Hillsborough Community College prior to the 2008-09 season. He averaged 20.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season en route to being named first-team All-State. Aden begins his sophomore campaign as a preseason second-team All-American. 

            Abdi Faras Number 35

University of Nebraska at Kearney
Class: Sophomore

Hometown: San Diego, CA
High School: San Diego

Prior to UNK: Played at San Diego City College in 2009-10 ... for the SDCC Knights in 2009-10, averaged 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game ... shot 43 percent from the field ... signed with Division II Kentucky State out of high school

High School: As a senior at San Diego High in 2008, earned second-team All-Eastern League honors