Ayuba Bryant on the rise!

Since joining Gravelines in 2019, the left-handed forward Ayuba Bryant has been on a steady rise and despite still only being 17 years old he is slowly but surely becoming a fixture in their starting line-up in the French Espoirs competition.

Coming off a tough 2021 year in which he had to have 2 hip surgeries, the lanky 6’8″ big man has worked his way back and was able to compete for our U16 National Team in the summer of 2021 where in 5 games he averaged 8.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2.0 apg & 1.0 spg in 27.0 mpg. He then went on to compete with the U18 team at Gravelines and made his first couple of appearances with the U21 team, playing in a total of 8 games (3.4 ppg & 1.8 rpg) in the strong French Espoirs League. His excellent season was clearly noticed and in the summer of 2022 he was invited to participate in the NBA Academy Games.

This season Bryant seems to have fully integrated the Espoirs team and has so far competed in 6 games, averaging 7.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg & 1.5 spg in 18.3 mpg. In his last two games he each time got the starting nod and ended up with 11 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists & 3 steals in the win at Nanterre and 11 points & 4 rebounds in the loss against Blois this past friday.

Hopefully the youngster can stay free from injuries and continue his steady progression in this season and the coming seasons as he clearly has a bright future ahead of him.