Ivy League hoopsters are Division I athletes on the court and exceptionally accomplished and eclectic humans off it. Ivy Hoops Online presents the latest edition of our Off the Bench series that takes fans inside the stories that you might not otherwise know from the stands or through your screen.
N’famara Dabo ’27 loves asking himself big questions. His curiosity extends from the classroom to his reading list, and to finding his place far from home. He spoke to us on the verge of a senior year he intends to fill with learning, winning and the best of the Providence dining scene.
For Brown senior N’famara Dabo, a forward for the Bears, the most interesting questions are the ones that seem simple on the surface but get complicated once you dive deep.
This summer, he took a psychology class about friendship and finished it with more questions than answers.
“I used to feel like everyone is my friend, but now I know that isn’t right,” Dabo said. “Some people may just be acquaintances, and that’s not the same.”
Defining friendship led Dabo to reflect on one of the most important parts of his Brown experience: his basketball teammates.
“I feel like having true friends is the most important thing in a team,” he said. “You have to consider your teammate someone close to you, someone that you share a goal with. And you have to share a sense of belonging.”
Dabo has wrestled with the concept of belonging, both intellectually and personally.
Originally from Conakry, Guinea, on the western coast of Africa, Dabo moved to the United States alone when he was 15. His basketball skills led him to the elite Prolific Prep program, and Napa Christian Academy in Napa, California for high school.
From his first days in California, his mom’s advice stayed with him: “You’ve got to focus on school. School has to be your first priority.”
The Ivy League was not initially part of Dabo’s plan, but during his junior year at Napa Christian, several schools reached out. When he visited Brown, he knew he had found the right place. “I got along with the team and the coaches,” he said. “And I knew it was a way of making my mom proud.”
Now a senior, Dabo has used Brown’s Open Curriculum to venture far beyond his computer science and economics majors. He has enjoyed the “deep learning” aspects of those courses, if not always the math. A native French speaker, he has also taken three French literature courses.
More than a requirement, reading has always been a source of pleasure for Dabo.
“It lets me look at how societies treat outsiders, and how history shapes us,” he said.
Reading “The Silence of the Choir” by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Dabo appreciated considering the refugee crisis in Europe through different perspectives and individual stories. He also enjoyed “Winners Take All” by Anand Giridharadas, particularly its argument that “the people who want to solve problems are the problem themselves.” “L’Enfant noir”, a memoir of Guinean childhood and culture by Camara Laye, brought Dabo back to his home—but not in a simple or nostalgic way—he wanted to examine the author’s controversial decision not to address the effects of colonialism.
The common denominators in Dabo’s reading list are humanity and complexity.
Dabo has challenged himself academically and athletically, and made the most of BrownSPARK, a career development resource available to him through Brown Athletics which has connected him with mentors in technology and finance, and opened up visits to potential employers, including Google.
While Dabo hopes to continue playing basketball after Brown, he is also thinking about combining his interests in data, storytelling and the experiences of young athletes. Dabo wants to write a book about student-athletes who, like him, come to the United States hoping to play college basketball—and about what happens to those who never receive that chance.
“Everyone has a unique puzzle,” he said. “And there is no single path.”
As the only member of his family living in the U.S., Dabo knows that his own path is unusual. Most of his 11 siblings live in Europe or Guinea.
During school breaks when he cannot return home, Dabo travels back to Northern California, where Michael and Gwendolyn Hill have become his “second family.” These Napa-based friends of Prolific Prep’s coach became a “second family” to Dabo from the moment he met them as a high school student, and they have been close ever since. “After one conversation, it was like I was one of them,” he said.
Providence offers a few reminders of home.
“In Guinea, we have a lot of rivers. We are nearby the ocean. So sometimes when I feel like I miss home a lot, I just go there,” he said, referencing the Providence River.
Dabo misses his parents’ home cooking a lot, but family remains close through phone calls and faith.
“My family instilled in me that God comes first before everything,” Dabo said.
As he prepares for his senior season, Dabo’s goals on the court are ambitious. Like every player interviewed for Off The Bench, he wants to play in March Madness. Individually, he hopes to be named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and make First-Team All-Ivy.
But his senior-year bucket list also includes exploring Providence, visiting Newport, trying more restaurants and getting involved in clubs beyond computer science.
In short, Dabo wants to keep exploring.
For students who arrive at college without knowing exactly what they want to do after graduation, Dabo believes Brown can be particularly rewarding. He has one very simple recommendation.
“If you want to be happy,” Dabo said, “come to Brown.”
