Since his first contact with basketball, Paul Eboua (Yaoundé, Cameroon, 2000) fell in love with the game. His passion and hard work mentality made him overcome all the challenges in his path: from a 14-year-old skinny kid, to a professional player in Europe who now has the NBA Draft as his next step.
How did you start playing basketball?
I started playing basketball at 14 years old when I was at Makepe High School thanks to my friend Owen, who was very good at basketball. Since then, I only had basketball in my mind. During that times, I remember my parents giving me some money to buy some clothes for Christmas but I preferred to buy a ball, because I just wanted to spend my holidays playing basketball with my friends. It was then when I saw a really talented guy called Rocky, who was working out in a gym near my home; I watched him for hours and he gave me the opportunity to pass him the ball which made me so happy. After some days, he asked me to practice with him during the holidays, so I decided to spend my Christmas money buying another ball so we could have practice with two balls. I remember Rocky telling me that I was weak, and that’s why I wanted to improve my body and show him that I could be better. Some months later, I was invited to the Luc Mbah Moute Camp in Yaoundé, and it was an amazing experience; however, I wasn’t chosen to play the All-Star Game there which made me sad but also gave me more motivation to be able to play in the All-Star in the next year. Then, I met the coach of the University of Douala, and he gave me the opportunity to work with him during some days, but back then I couldn’t practice every day since I had to go to school..More on Eurohopes..