MEET THE FOUNDER

Founder, Maurice Ndour, a Senegalese native and citizen of the world, created the Maurice Ndour Foundation as a way to pay forward opportunities he was fortunately graced with.

 

[his]tory

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Early Years

Ndour was born in Sindia, Senegal and raised in Mbour, Senegal where he played soccer and basketball as a boy. During his teenage years, Maurice grew accustomed to living away from his family as he traveled 250 miles east of Senegal to live and study with his uncle in the region of Tambacounda for four years. He came back to his hometown in 2006. A couple years later, he was noticed playing basketball in a local tournament and was offered a full scholarship to play high school basketball in Japan. For his sophomore, junior and senior years, Ndour attended Okayama Gakugeikan High School where he was an All-Okayama MVP honoree and All-Star selection for two consecutive years.

 

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College (2011-2015)

After three years of hard work in the rigorous Japanese educational and training system, Ndour graduated from Okayama Gakugeikan High School in 2011. Ndour moved to the United States after earning a junior college scholarship to Monroe College. He played two seasons for the Mustangs. During his stint at Monroe, he was a two-time NJCAA All-Region selection and finished his two-year career at Monroe with 848 points, placing him eighth on the all-time Mustang scoring list. His work ethic and exceptional performance paved the way for and even bigger opportunity.

 

After two years at junior college, in 2013, Ndour transferred to Ohio University where he spent his final two college seasons playing as a student-athlete for the Bobcats. During his time as a Bobcat, he earned many accolades. He earned second-team All-Mid-American Conference for both his junior and senior year and NABC All-District 14 second team honors. As a senior in 2014–15, he averaged 16.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. 

 

 

Dallas Mavericks (2015)

After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Ndour joined the New York Knicks for the 2015 NBA Summer League. Through his persevering efforts, Ndour signed with the Dallas Mavericks. He appeared in the team's first four preseason games but missed the final three games of the preseason schedule due to a tibial stress reaction. Unfortunately, he was subsequently waived by the Mavericks prior to the start of the regular season.

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Real Madrid (2015–2016)

Despite the setback, Ndour worked harder than ever to recover and find a way to continue playing. He signed with Real Madrid months later for the remainder of the season where he helped his team win the Spanish Cup and the Spanish League Champion title.

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New York Knicks (2016–2017)

After a standout summer performance, Ndour signed with the New York Knicks. He made his debut for the Knicks on November 1, 2016, recording three points, two rebounds and one steal off the bench. During this season, he had multiple G-League assignments with the Westchester Knicks. Nonetheless, he didn’t let that break his spirit. Instead, he let his work ethic speak for itself knowing that his opportunity was coming. Finally, on April 4, 2017, in his first career start with the Knicks, Ndour had 13 points and 12 rebounds in a 100–91 win over the Chicago Bulls. Three days later, he scored a career-high 15 points—scoring the team’s first 8 points—against the Memphis Grizzlies. After the 2017 season, the Knicks did not pick up his second year option and he was waived.

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BC Unics Kazan (2017-present)

On November 29, 2017, Ndour signed with Russian club BC Unics for the rest of the 2017–18 season. On August 6, 2018, Ndour re-signed with Unics for one season with an option for 2019–20 season.

 

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Senegal National Team 

Ndour first suited up for his country for the 2014 World Cup in Spain where Senegal became the first African basketball team to reach the top 16.  In 2016, he had an exceptional performance in the Philippines for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The following year, Ndour won a bronze medal in the Afrobasket 2017 competition. He also helped Senegal qualify in the 2019 World Cup in China.

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Miscellaneous 

Including Africa, Ndour lived in four different continents since leaving home when he was only fifteen years old. He is fluent in five different languages