The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ansu Sesay To Play In First NBA Playoffs This Weekend
4/19/2002 | Men's Basketball
April 19, 2002
SEATTLE, Wash. - Ansu Sesay, former Ole Miss men's basketball All-America, will get his first taste of NBA postseason play Saturday when the Seattle SuperSonics open a best-of-5, first-round playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs. Game one of the series is set for a 4:30 p.m. (CT) tip from San Antonio, and the contest will be televised by NBC.
Seattle signed the 6-foot-9 forward to a 10-day contract on Mar. 29, and then signed Sesay for the remainder of the season on Apr. 8. In nine games with the Sonics, Sesay averaged 6.4 points and 2.2 boards in 15.8 minutes of action per contest. He also shot 50 percent from the floor.
Prior to his time with Seattle, Sesay played the 2001-02 campaign with the Greenville Groove of the National Basketball Developmental League (NBDL). The Houston, Texas, native, the 2002 NBDL MVP, averaged 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 45 games (41 starts).
Sesay, who was also named to the All-NBDL First Team and was the league's co-Player of the Month in February (with teammate Billy Thomas), played collegiately at the Ole Miss. He was named Second Team All-American by the Associated Press and was the AP Southeastern Conference Player of the Year as a senior before being selected in the second round (30th overall) by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1998 NBA Draft.
His 1,428 points ranks eighth on the Ole Miss all-time scoring chart and he is only the second player in school history (along with former NBA player Elston Turner) to surpass 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 200 assists. He averaged 13.0 ppg and 6.4 rpg in 110 career games and helped lead the Rebels to back-to-back SEC Western Division titles and consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 1997 and 1998.
Sesay will be one of three NBDL players to see action in the 2002 NBA Playoffs. Rusty LaRue, who played with the Asheville (N.C.) Altitude, will be with the Utah Jazz, and Anthony Johnson, who was with the Mobile (Ala.) Revelers, will see action with the New Jersey Nets.
Turner, another former Rebel standout, will also be a part of the 2002 NBA Playoffs as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings. The Kings, the Western Division's top seed, will open postseason play Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. (CT) contest against the Utah Jazz. The game will be televised by NBC.
