Egypt's Next Great Basketball Player: Karim Sameh

Next great Egyptian player

As the level of Egyptian basketball continues to rise, so do its talent and skills of its young basketball players. Karim Sameh is the latest player to show a lot of promise and potential in terms of making it in the United States as basketball. 

By: Michael Hanley (@Magic20099)

He is currently making his rounds on the AAU circuit, playing for the CP3 All Stars on the Nike EYBL Circuit . He is a 6’10.5” junior in high school who weighs 255 pounds and sports a 7’7” wingspan  He is making some history by playing on the Nike AAU circuit. Sameh is the first born player from Egypt to play on the Nike AAU Circuit in its history, quote an accomplishment for the junior.  

People have their quibbles and complaints about how this level of basketball is run and who is involved in it when it comes to coaches and organizers of the actual AAU teams but there's so much good  and opportunity that these young players  are afforded by being on these teams. Sameh is a shining example of what good AAU hoops can do in a young man’s life.

He is going through a lot of adjustment right now in his life, being  a completely new country where he has no friends or family in it. Also he is adjusting and continuously adapting to the education he is receiving which is far different from the style and routine he was so use to going to school as  a younger boy in Egypt. This is all before even adding basketball into this whole equation for him.

Now Egyptian basketball as a whole continue to improve and move up levels in term sof the players they are developing at all skill levels but it is a whole different game when it comes to going up against some of the best the United States has to offer. Sameh right now is going up against talents that he never could even get close to competing against while in his home country.

Though the prospect of going up against these elite players from the United States might intimidate and scare off some players, Karim is not one of them. He has embraced this opportunity and has taken the right approach with it. Instead of looking at it as straight competition, the high school junior is looking at this as a learning experience to improve his  overall game and evolve it.

Going up against the best talent in his own graduating class not only helps push him to new heights in terms of effort and overall play but also exposes the parts of his game that he can see needs improvement and then be able to diagnose what adjustments can be made, turning that weakness into a strength.  

What has also been a huge help in Karim improving and growing his overall skills has been playing with Harry Giles, who happens to be the #2 ranked recruit in the 2016 class by ESPN. Giles is a special player who no question will be one of the best college basketball players in the country in a few years time with his high ceiling and overall skill set he possesses.

Having Giles being along side Sameh will only drive the junior from Egypt to want to get to Giles’ level and be able to have the same production and success that he has as well. Every player is different obviously, but being around these players no question is going to continue to rub off on Sameh and make him a very sought after and a high major recruit once 2016 rolls around.  

Karim’s touch around the rim, overall size and ability to pass will be three key things that stick out in recruiter’s minds when they see him play in person and watch him on tape. College basketball has and continues to be in a period where overall scoring is down and offenses are having more trouble finding ways to generate consistent offense.  

Having a big man like Sameh in the fold would absolutely help a team be able to create easier offense and become more diverse in that an opponent could not just  key in on one specific part of an offense featuring Karim, they would have to pick their poison with his ability to score in the paint.

Also his defense will prove to be a difference maker as he grows more into his frame and get stronger in the weight room. That wingspan will be perfectly tailored to block a lot of shots in college and have the ability to alter shots which will create extra possession for his own team on the other end.

The program that recruits and is successful in getting him to their program will have to be patient as with all recruits but the payoff will certainly be high and the program will rise in success with Karim leading the way.