Player Profile: Fanta Minteh (The Gambia)

June 14, 2024

Player Profile: Fanta Minteh (The Gambia)

Name: Fanta Minteh

Hometown: Banjul, The Gambia

Height: 5-10

Position: Shooting Guard/Point Guard

High School: Broadfording Christian Academy (MD)

Graduation Class: 2025

GPA: 3.2

Offers: IUP

Accomplishments: Mason Dixon Christian Conference Player of the Year (2023, 2024), Herald Mail Player of the Year (2024), Herald Mail All-County First Team (2024), Washington County Player of the Year (2024), Washington County Defensive Player of the Year (2024), Washington County Hoops Player of the Year (2023, 2024), Washington County Athletic Association Newcomer of the Year (2023)

Recruiting Email: fantacsay12@icloud.com

HAGERSTOWN, MD -- Fanta Minteh (Mint•ay) is a 5-foot-10 combo guard from Banjul, The Gambia. Minteh arrived in the States in late 2022. She's currently a rising senior at Broadfording Christian Academy, also known as Global Vision Christian School Broadfording or GVCS Broadfording. In her junior season, Minteh averaged 20.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4 steals and 2.5 assists per game to lead the Lions to a 23-11 record, MDCC championship, and reached the 1,000 point mark in two seasons while racking up numerous awards as one of the state's best.

Don't be fooled by the awards as Minteh is still a name that many haven't gotten to know yet. Quite frankly, though, Minteh is one of the most skilled players to come through the RPN in all honesty. Gets after it hard on both ends of the floor, a smart player who has a knack for always doing the right thing with the ball, to her versatility being an elite sharpshooter and being able to move bodies off the dribble. The game of basketball comes naturally to the West Africa native, but one trait that stood out the most to me is her ability to handle challenges. Whether that's being far from home chasing her dreams, adjusting to different coaching styles or even harassed on the court taking on triple teams, Minteh is well beyond her years as it has helped her navigate life.

Let's learn more about the Gambian star, shall we?

The RPN caught up with the MDCC Player of the Year on a breakdown of her game, life growing up in The Gambia and preparation for senior season.

Fanta Minteh Breakdown

Strengths:

Attacking the Rim

"Minteh throughout the RPN process stated that the homies back in The Gambia claimed her as the 'Female LeBron'. Now that can mean a couple different things *laughs*, but in good nature means that she has no regard for human life with the ball. From viewing her game, Minteh also operates very smoothly when taking girls take off the dribble. Nothing fancy, straight business but she finishes well off of two feet and through contact very maturely."

Elite Shooter

"One of my favorite traits about Minteh is her ability to shoot. Yes, anybody can be able to shoot the ball out of the thousands of kids playing in America, but something about the Gambian shooting just hits differently. Very smooth off the catch, can create her shot in numerous ways while in rhythm, has a nice pull up game and is pretty unconscious no matter who is in territory to close out. Minteh has a collegiate bag within her shot, but I am a firm believer that her shooting will help her get the ticket paid at the end of the day."

High IQ Player

"I truly luck out on having kids who care about playing the right way and Minteh is no different. Does well within her shot selection, strives to make the right reads on offense, and is a high level defender to go along with it. Love the way she carries herself on the floor as no more needs to be said."

Passing

"On the lines of being harassed on defense, Minteh made quite a name for herself in Washington County. And, we all know once you become more known, the attention doesn't leave you. Beginning to face double to even triple teams junior year, Minteh grew through the defensive pressure in getting her teammates more involved. Coach Jacob Wyand meant it when he said, 'We've been averaging way more assists this year,' from last season. Minteh is an opportunist who loves to create for teammates."

Solid Defender

"Minteh is as good as they come on the defensive end. Isn't much the 'in your pockets', or black air forces like defender, but the girl is a serviceable defender. Great length to disrupt passing lanes, makes it harder for opposing ball handlers to get around her, and is very active on the glass when getting on the boards. It might sound simple, but it gets the job done caring on the defensive end."

Improvements:

Accuracy

"Now I know I'm reasonable as a scout, but Minteh saying she wants to become more accurate genuinely scared me. Like how accurate are we getting here? In all seriousness, Minteh looks to improve on her mechanics and become more deadeye from three. I would be scared as this isn't a joking matter."

Getting More Creative

"Minteh is in search of getting more creative this offseason. Working on more combo moves whether that's in her ball handling, finishes around the basket, or even working her way off the ball for a jump shot. If she can learn different off ball movements, or being more precise scoring on an angle, she will be unguardable in due time."

Fanta Minteh Interview

When did you first start playing basketball?

"I started playing basketball at age 10 simply because I hated being home after school. The school I went to back then had no basketball court, but the closest one was around like 20 minutes from my house. There was a local park where every night I saw people in basketball clothes coming from that direction. I then told my late father that I wanted to play basketball just for fun. Just so I don’t have stay home after school. Then one of my friends said he could take me to the basketball court. Trust me I went and never came back."

How would you describe your game from the skill standpoint?

"I’m an aggressive player who can defends, but also an offensive player. I’d rate my gameplay like dribbling, shooting, court awareness, communication. I’m not 100% at all on those aspects, but I believe there is always going to be room for improvement."

How was life growing up in the Gambia?

"We are really socially outgoing especially as we are family oriented. Basketball is slowly growing in the Gambia. There is not lot of opportunities for kids that want to play basketball because it’s neither paying your school fees nor putting food on your table. So many families don’t let their kids play sports in general especially girls. My parents loved whatever I do, but I’ve always been serious about my education which is first priority. It wasn’t very pretty playing on a concrete court, but the dream has always been to play basketball in college and at a professional level one day."

Leaving Gambia to chase your dreams in the States, how was that process and how'd your first year experience go?

"The process of getting a visa from The Gambia as a third world country makes it 10 times harder. The dream has always been to play college basketball and for that to happen, I’ve to undergone this whole process. Required a lot of money and paperwork here and there. My uncle, who was my coach, took care of my responsibilities after my dad passed away in 2019. He was in charge of all the monetary and the guidance aspects. Luckily I got my visa in December in the middle of basketball season in the US. The school needed me to be here ASAP, if not according to the league rules. If a person misses certain numbers of games, they wouldn’t be able to play for the rest of the season. I told Broadfording that because my uncle has to put money together for my flight, which he was expecting to be ready by January, then the school decided to pay for my flight ticket. It was the biggest relief of my life because my uncle doesn’t have to be in debt for my flight fee."

How was the transition into your first year at Broadfording?

"Broadfording was the first school I applied to in the US. The school have has several students come from the Gambia through a man called, Ousman Sallah. He has a very good relationship with the principal of GVCS broadfording. He saw me play couple of times in the Gambia and he told me about the school. If I’d like to apply, then I did and got accepted."

"My first season wasn’t very smooth," Minteh continued. "With new family, teammates, and environment trying to figure out how best I’ll fit within my team. We struggled at the start because the girls team have never played with a talented person like me before. It was admitted and not to brag, but it was overwhelming for them so they just lacked behind letting me do most of the work during games. It was draining for me because I thought they didn’t wanna play. I also understood most of them were playing as for fun and it wasn’t just fun for me. This is what I love and what to do, but as time went on they also picked up the energy. Especially after getting to championship games, which they’ve not been at for the past 10 years before I arrived. We got along pretty quickly. We put in extra work, time and we won back to back championships. Even got second within D2 at the NCSAA tournament for all Christian schools."

How was your junior season?

"My junior season was the best. All of my teammates were involved in this way, or the other with scoring and defense. We grew to fight back with teams that are better than us because we played many public schools this year. That gave us room to grow outside our league. Personally, I love playing public schools because I believe that’s where the competition is at and they’ve been my best games. Being the first scoring option wasn’t fun at all because you’re every teams target. I matured through that, and me and my teammates proved that I wasn’t the only scoring option anymore as we’ve evolved. I still played my part being the lead scorer of my team as called upon."

Going through rehab right now, and unfortunately having to sit out your last travel season, how's recovery been going and when can we expect a timeline of you back?

"Rehab is going well but slow. It’s not easy sitting out on something that means everything to you. Mentally I’m trying because recovery also is align with your emotions. I feel like I’m missing out opportunities that could’ve be mine, but my health is my priority and I’ll will possible return in July."

You’re still at a very early stage of your career. What kinds of things are you doing to make yourself the best player you can be?

"I’m still working on perfecting my craft in all areas. The biggest thing I have been learning is the mental game. Basketball requires mental toughness in the game, through injuries and even decision making. At training, I focus on my strengths such as shooting, dribbling, passing and court awareness. Coach (Jacob) Wyand loves to work on this as well. I’ve also worked with TrueAP for my strength and conditioning, which has benefited me and my teammates a lot."

Who would you say is your favorite basketball player and why?

"For Women's Basketball, I would say Didi Richard. She plays for the Washington Mystics. I see myself in her. We have a lot of similarities in games. I fell in love with her after I watched her documentary. When she got injured, and how she cakes out of her injury. Didi slowly started playing again, then got drafted to the W(NBA) in 2021. Coming out injury, playing to getting drafted is a big achievement and she loves fashion and I do as well."

"On the men's side," She continued. "I don’t watch that much, but I love Dennis Schroeder because his mom is Gambian. He also always comes to Gambia. I saw him in 2019, I think, but he was helping some youths back home to archive there basketball dreams."

What do you believe are the greatest challenges most players are facing today?

"I feel like the biggest challenge is social media because it tends to focus on the cream of the society. Focused on pushing the few people they think are the best, which sometimes makes the majority players feels they’re not good players. Everyone’s story is different. I believe like kids should be looked at by what they can do, rather than focus on specific agenda of kids."

What is the outlook heading into senior year?

"Looking forward to a great season. Putting more work in by getting better and better. Team wise, just to play with an open mind."

Thank you Fanta for taking the time to talk with me. Very glad you had this opportunity. Do you have any words of encouragement or motivation for people? Any last words?

"My words of encouragement will be for players to take care of their bodies. Ignoring those little injuries might turn into big ones later on. Also, yes, we should always keep grinding for what we want in life. Thank you Tyreese!"