The International Man of Mystery

There's been a a lot of discussion about our "International Man of Mystery" Mouhammad Faye, but the problem is that very few people have actually seen him play. I have a small treat - we have contacts with people who HAVE seen him play. Here's what we have heard about his time with the team so far:


SIZE / ATHLETICISM
Faye is about 6'8" - 6'9" and on the light side. He needs to add muscle and strength. However, he has a wingspan over 7'. He is a very athletic guy with good jumping ability and is quick off the floor.


FAYE THE PERSON
Like Paco Diaw, Faye speaks about 4 different languages. Once he got good grades in the fall, the NCAA gave him his eligibility for next season. He is now on scholarship. He's no dummy for sure and the main issue as we reported last fall was the acceptance / transfer of credits of some of his foreign classes.


DEFENSIVELY
Faye seems to be a guy who can probably guard the 2-4 spots. He's long, quick and athletic, fitting the mold of the kind of players that Coach likes. Evidently he has an excellent work ethic and plays hard, so his defense under Hewitt's system should be good.


OFFENSIVE SKILLS
Faye is a very versatile player and his offensive skills are more developed than say Paco Diaw. He can shoot the 3pt shot and he can play the post and mix it up underneath. While he has some back-to-the-basket skills down low, he is more of a face-up offensive player. The best description for him is probably a versatile shooting forward. His ball handling skills are average.


COMPARISONS?
Coach Hewitt actually compared him at a recent call-in show to Thaddeus Young. However, it's safe to say that his skills are a pretty large notch below badThad's. He was probably talking about his physical attributes as much as anything and the type of game he plays. He's also not as strong as Thad.


CONCLUSION
The sad truth is that Faye could have had a much larger impact this season had he been eligible than when we see him next season. With the arrival of Thaddeus Young, there are not likley to be large minutes for Faye. He will be a solid guy to bring off the bench next season and another base-building guy for the next 4 years. The truth is that next season very well might be THE deepest team in the history of Georgia Tech: Let's look:


PG - J.Crittenton, Z.Fredrick, P.Diaw
SG - A.Morrow, L.Clinch, M.West
SF - T.Young, D.Bell, M.Faye
PF - Smith, A.Aminu, Z.Peacock
C - R.Dickey, B.Sheehan


Wow! Now interestingly, that's 14 scholarships. Don't ask me where the extra one will disappear to.