idealist: June 2010

The Best Kept Secret in New York City high school basketball is 6 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds.
He has only been playing hoops for three years and already owns a scholarship offer from Fordham University.
Amadou Sidibe is a 15-year-old sophomore at Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx and he could be the next big thing in the Big Apple.
"He is a kid with tremendous upside and he's just beginning to scratch the surface," one Division I assistant coach said.
Sidibe's parents are from the Ivory Coast and, like many children of African parents, he grew up playing soccer.
"My father played soccer," Sidibe said. "I used to play soccer. That was my first sport. I gave it up before basketball."
Because of his height, people always told the young man to try basketball. Eventually he did.
During his freshman season at Hayes, Sidibe averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks for a freshman team that went 22-2. They lost in the A-League Catholic championship game because Sidibe couldn't play after suffering a hairline fracture in his leg.
A month later, Sidibe began coming to school more than an hour early, at 6:45 a.m., to work out with Hayes assistant Justin Simon doing shooting and ball-handling drills.
"He was just playing on instinct until after his freshman season. He started coming to school one hour early to work on his game every day with me. He's been in there in every single morning," Simon said. "Now he's consistently hitting 17-foot jump shots. His handle is developing. He will be a true four man when he is a senior."
Said Sidibe: "I've got to work on my shooting, my handle and becoming a better team player."
Sidibe also has an academic average in the low 90s and was on high honors all last year.
Two weeks ago, Fordham assistant Jared Grasso came to the gym and offered him a scholarship "within five minutes," Simon said.
Sidibe then took an unofficial visit to the Fordham campus two weeks ago.
"He absolutely loved it," Simon said.
Sidibe also excelled at a Yale Elite Camp this past summer and now Yale and Columbia are also very interested in him.
"It shows that after all the hard work I've done," Sidibe said, "I'm getting something back in return."