Rwandan dreams of playing in NBA

Gatete Djuma may have left for the U.S two years ago but he is now dreaming of playing basketball in the ultimate league-The National Basketball Association (NBA).

Saturday, February 11, 2012
Djuma Gatete

Gatete Djuma may have left for the U.S two years ago but he is now dreaming of playing basketball in the ultimate league-The National Basketball Association (NBA).The 19-year old who plays for Long Beach State high school in California, has already received reviews from his coach Dan Monson and Basketball columnists.The center forward is an integral part of his team and has already been nominated for the McDonald’s All America teams.The McDonald’s All-American Game refers to each of the all-star basketball games played each year for boys’ and girls’ high-school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top American and Canadian players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the high-school basketball season, in an East vs. West format. As part of the annual event, boys also compete in a slam-dunk contest, a three-point shooting competition, and an overall timed-skills competition. The girls compete in the three-point shooting competition and the overall-skills competition. The boys’ game has been contested annually since 1978, and the girls game has been played each year since it was added in 2002.Gatete told Desert news, a newspaper in salt lake that "his ultimate dream is to play in lucrative NBA”.According to Shema Maboko,a FIBA licensed referee who knows Gatete before he left for the USA, said the 6-10 player always had the indigents for having a successful career in the game."He was a very hardworking boy who loved the game with a lot of passion. He is also incredibly tall which will propel him to greater heights,” Maboko said.