University of Oklahoma Athletics
OU Signs Wyoming Transfer Amath M'Baye
April 21, 2011 | Men's Basketball
April 21, 2011
NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma head men's basketball coach Lon Kruger announced today that former Wyoming standout Amath M'Baye (pronounced ah-MOTT M-by) is transferring to OU. M'Baye signed a financial aid agreement with OU this week.
A 6-9, 210-pound forward from Bordeaux, France, M'Baye started all 31 games last year as a sophomore for Wyoming, averaging 12.0 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds per outing. He shot .475 from the field and .670 from the free throw line while also registering 29 blocked shots and 22 steals. He will sit out the 2011-12 season due to NCAA transfer regulations and have two years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2012-13.
"Amath's a terrific talent with the versatility to play both inside and outside," said Kruger, who was hired at OU on April 1. "He's a high-level athlete who's long and rangy and can score in a lot of different ways. We played against Amath at UNLV and got to see how good of a player he is on both ends of the floor. We're very excited to have him as a member of the OU family."
M'Baye's numbers were better in conference play, as he averaged 13.1 points and 6.2 boards in an average of 31.1 minutes per game. He shot .462 from the field and .745 from the foul line. He scored in double figures 22 times on the year and against Kruger's UNLV Runnin' Rebels recorded games of 13 points and six rebounds and 24 points and seven boards.
M'Baye enjoyed a five-game February stretch in which he averaged 21.0 points (shot .564 from the field) and 6.6 boards. Included was a career-high 27-point effort against Air Force when he went 11-for-15 from the floor. Both of his double-doubles on the year came against Utah.
In 21 games as a freshman, M'Baye averaged 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per contest. He averaged 7.5 points over the Cowboys' final 10 games that year.
Born in Senegal, M'Baye attended Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, Calif., during the 2008-09 school year. During the summer of 2009, he played on the U20 French national team that earned the silver medal at the U20 European Championships.
M'Baye was an international studies major at Wyoming.
