SALY, Senegal — Gaetan Teumgue Wafo, a 16-year-old, 6-foot-11 power forward/center from Cameroon, first picked up a basketball in 2021. Now at NBA Academy Africa, Wafo has made significant strides in his physical development with help from the academy’s focus on nutrition.
Before Wafo arrived at the Academy, he wasn’t eating enough to support his body size and workout routines. Now, with the knowledge of proper nutrition, three regimented meals per day and food available after practices, he gets the nutrients he needs.
“If you don’t have muscles here, they are gonna push you everywhere. So if you don’t eat enough it’s not gonna be good,” Wafo said.
Wafo is a lengthy big man with a 7-foot-3 wingspan whose increase in weight and muscle mass has made him stronger and more physical on the court.
NBA Academy Africa is tasked with training, feeding and teaching the continent’s next basketball superstars. The Academy currently has 22 athletes from 11 different countries, 18 of whom are 6-foot-6 and taller.
Ensuring these developing athletes receive the nutrition they need starts with education.
“They are not like normal kids on the street,” said Jordan Stewart-Mackie, performance scientist at NBA Academy Africa. “So it’s getting them to understand that they are fueling for performance, and that looks different.”
Stewart-Mackie said players need to be intentional about what and when they eat. They are educated about three different types of meals they can eat depending on their workouts and goals for the day.
The meals follow the NBA acronym: an “Energy” plate for double workout days requiring more carbohydrates, a “Build” for a balanced meal, and an “Adapt” plate for recovery with additional protein.
Players aren’t on their own individual nutrition plans. They are provided with three different supplements: a multivitamin for macronutrients, a probiotic for gut health and Omega 3-6-9 for bone function.
“The biggest thing for us honestly is the education,” Stewart Mackie said. “It’s not always what they eat on campus, the three meals a day. We obviously know that they are eating other things too.”
Before players leave for college, they take a cooking etiquette class to prepare them for life on their own, including learning how to shop and prepare meals on their own, according to Stewart-Mackie. Players are also educated on the right types of food to eat to maintain a healthy diet.
Seventeen-year-old Zie Cheick Hassan Conde, a 6-foot-8 wing from the Ivory Coast, said the academy has taught him,“don’t eat like pizza, hamburgers, not a lot because then that can have an impact on our performance.”
Academy menus vary. Sometimes players are served dishes popular in the U.S, a way to introduce them to the kinds of food choices they will experience when participating in showcases tournaments for the academy.
Mostly, meals at the Academy reflect local Senegalese culture, like thieboudienne, a dish of jollof rice and fish. Jollof rice is a popular West African dish made with tomatoes, onions, peppers and a variety of herbs and spices. That’s home-cooking for six of the 21 players at the academy from Senegal. Others must adapt.
Manuel Barreto Comboma, a 6-foot-7 wing from Angola, said the food was very different from what he had at home, highlighting the spices.
“The food from Angola is way better, especially my mom’s food,” Comboma said.
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