Amadou Sow is leading UCSB basketball
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Amadou Sow is competing in his senior year as a forward with the University of California at Santa Barbara basketball team. The Gauchos are hoping to get back to the NCAA Tournament this March, and Sow will be leading the way.
鈥淲e have high expectations as a team and as individuals,鈥� Sow 鈥淲e want to do big things.鈥�
He鈥檚 hoping to get the Gauchos to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2011.
Sow is a native of Bamako, Mali, and has been an active figure with the Gauchos since joining the team in the 2018-19 season. He has started all but two games with the Gauchos since then, and he typically gets at least 25 minutes of playing time in each game.
Sow has seen his numbers rise in the past few years. His 2021-22 campaign is proving to be his most successful one yet. He has a 61.2% field goal percentage, the highest in his career. He also has 17.8 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game.
At 6-foot-9, Sow is very easy to spot on the court. But the Gauchos are one of the tallest teams in college basketball, with four players measuring in at 6-foot-10.
He has also been more active in three-point shooting as of late.
鈥淚 work on my shot a lot during the off-season,鈥� he . 鈥淚 was not surprised to make that jump (in shooting more three-point shots).鈥�
Sow is looking forward to getting the Gauchos back into the Big Dance. The Gauchos reached the tournament last year after winning the Big West title and came very close to upsetting Creighton. But the Blue Jays ended up pulling out a 63-62 victory over the Gauchos. One of Sow鈥檚 teammates that season was JaQuori McLaughlin, a guard who has since signed with the Dallas Mavericks.
Sow and the rest of the Gauchos did see a slight setback on Nov. 29 when they lost to UT-Arlington 70-62. Although Sow had 23 points during that game, the Mavericks pulled ahead to give the Gauchos a rare loss at the Thunderdome. The Thunderdome has been one of the most challenging places for teams to play in, with Gaucho fans being among the most passionate fans in college basketball.
But Sow and the Gauchos have high hopes of going forward and being competitive in 2022. The Gauchos have seen nonconference victories so far against Pepperdine and Chicago State, but they are focusing heavily on the Big West slate that will include schools like UC Davis, UC Irvine, CSU Bakersfield and Hawaii. They鈥檒l be looking to get back in the tournament, and they鈥檒l have their fans at the Thunderdome to cheer them on, even though those fans don鈥檛 throw tortillas on the court like they used to.
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