Narmbaye Working On Game

RivalsHoops.com has had a chance now to watch Mbainai Narmbaye, a 6-9 power forward/center from Africa, play several times so far this season. He is a player whose best days are ahead of him. But the question mark is how much time will it take for this center/forward from Life Center Academy in Burlington, New Jersey to achieve an effective offensive game?

For sure it will take some time. He has struggled a bit offensively but seems to be active around the basket when there are loose balls. He scored eight points against a talented Our Savior New American forward line last weekend in a tournament final.

Narmbaye also struggled offensively at the War on the Shore, and really wasn't a factor for much of the tournament until an eight point, eight rebound effort in the Warriors' 67-50 victory over West Nottingham.

Narmbaye does run the floor well for a big guy and has improved over the past month. He is also a good defensive presence in the paint and will block some shots for you.

But he is far from the finished product. But the potential can be realized if he continues to be pushed hard by himself and the Life Center coaching staff.

Currently, there are five schools that have made a serious effort to recruit him hard -- LaSalle, St. Joe's, UMass, Colorado and Rutgers.

Narmbaye took official visits last month to St. Joseph's (Nov. 15-17) and Colorado (Nov. 8-10). In October, Gladden and Narmbaye paid an unofficial trip to UMass. Gladden said that Narmbaye will definitely take an official visit to La Salle sometime in the near future.

LaSalle is located in Philadelphia, which is only a 40 minute drive or so from Life Center, which is located in Burlington, N.J. Narmbaye has already unofficially visited Rutgers, and Gladden didn't rule out a return trip (on an official basis) to the Big East program.