We are keeping our fingers crossed in the hope that we can return to a “normal” version of college basketball this fall: fans in the stands, announcers without masks, etc. Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen but we will try to restore some order with season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. We continue our coverage with Oregon JR PF Nyara Sabally. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Nyara about making the Sweet 16 last March and her expectations for this season.
You were born in Oregon but raised in Berlin: how did you 1st get into basketball, and how big is the sport in Germany? I got into basketball when I was 9 years old. I went to a tryout and actually hated it at 1st but eventually I got into it. Men’s basketball is huge in Berlin but women’s basketball is not: it is bigger in smaller towns.
In the summer of 2018 you were named MVP of the FIBA U18 Division B European Championship as a member of the German national team: what did it mean to you to win a gold medal? It was amazing! Sadly I injured myself in the championship game but it was still great to put Germany on the basketball map: it was a huge deal for our country.
You missed 2 years in a row due to tearing the ACL in both of your knees: what was the hardest part of sitting out, and how is your health at the moment? The hardest part was just not being able to practice/play with my teammates. Right now I feel good and my knee is completely healed: our training staff did a great job of helping me recover from both of my injuries.
Last December you made your 1st start of the season and scored a team-high 20 PTS and made all 9 of your FG attempts in a 30-PT win over Colorado: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Kind of. I did not notice that I had made all of my shots until after the game. Usually I miss a layup or 2 but things were going my way that day.
In the 2021 Sweet 16 you scored 14 PTS/6-8 FG before leaving the game early with an injury in a loss to Louisville: what did you learn from that game that will help you this year? You have to play all 40 minutes. We got off to a slow start against Louisville (trailing 29-14 at halftime) and got back into it too late. We were extremely young last year and have 7 new players this year: once March comes around it is a free-for-all but our experience will really help a lot.
You led the team in PPG/RPG last year: how do you balance your scoring with your rebounding? A lot of those rebounds were probably off of my misses! My coaches tell me to focus on rebounding because that is just an effort thing: the scoring will come. Rebounding also gives you more chances to score.
You are 6’5”: how much of an advantage is your height on the court? It is a big advantage…although after looking at the current roster I am 1 of the smaller ones on our gigantic team (including 6’8″ Phillipina Kyei and 6’7″ Sedona Prince)! Being able to post up/score close to the rim really helps.
In addition to playing both teams from last year’s NCAA title game in conference play (Arizona/Stanford), you will host 1 Final 4 team (UConn) in January, and might face the other Final 4 team (South Carolina) in the Battle 4 Atlantis in November: how will you deal with such a brutal schedule? I think it will be really exciting. We play Arizona/Stanford every year and they are good teams who help prepare us for March. I love playing games like that and being challenged: UConn at home will be amazing so I am glad that our coach schedules games like that.
Your sister/former teammate Satou is now in the WNBA: who is the best athlete in the family? Probably my little brother Lamin, who is a freshman at UTSA. When we played 1-on-1 this summer I realized that he is not so little any more: he is like 6’7”.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? I think that we can make a huge run in the NCAA tourney: the goal every year is to make the Final 4. The Pac-12 is such a strong conference so if we can win that then it would be a huge success.