From Switzerland to New Orleans; The Enzo Boudouma Story
A few weeks ago, Switzerland native Enzo Boudouma announced his commitment to the University of New Orleans, accepting a full scholarship to do so. The Privateers compete in the Southland conference, which is composed of schools in the states of Texas and Georgia.
For Boudouma, getting to this point was not easy – it took a lot of change and flat out hard work. To start, the big forward had not even played organized basketball until the age of fifteen. It was at that age that he started playing with the club, Fribourg Olympic Basket, based in his home city.
“I did one year over there, and then I transferred clubs to Center National of Switzerland (CNBS); They played in the second division in Switzerland,” he said. “This club really helped me to grow physically and my skills,” Boudoma added.
After starting to see success in his second season of playing basketball, he saw some new opportunities arise: “After my second year of playing basketball, I got a call to play for the u18 national team.”
Boudouma continued, “It was a great experience and good to play against the best players in Europe.”
After his experience with the national team, he did a second year with CNBS, which he says, “This was the year I blew up.”
With a growing reputation coming his way, Boudouma was ready to look for other ways to continue to hone his skills and get his name out there.
So, he called his agent: “I talked with my agent and told him I want to leave the country and play at a better level. He told me about France, Spain, and the United States.”
His agent then mentioned the prep school route, a familiar one to most who follow basketball in the northeast: “He said if you do two years in a prep school, you will go Division One…So at this point I knew I wanted to go to a prep school… but which one?”
“I had opportunities to go prep from several schools in New England, Phoenix and New York,” Boudoma said.
But one stuck out to him in particular, due to the bond he had built with his agent: “My agent knew the coach at Tilton – Mike Byrnes,” Boudoma said.
“He knew him and told me that he will make you a better player, so I trusted my agent’s word and went to Tilton for two years to improve my skills, mentally and physically,” he continued.
Now, it’s pretty safe to say that this trust and belief in both his agent, and the development provided by Coach Byrnes at Tilton paid off for the Swiss prospect.
Boudoma had nothing but gratitude for the program and those who helped him get to this point: “I wanna thank all my coaches who trusted me and coached me during those years, and my teammates for pushing me everyday. I also want to thank my mom and dad for always believing in me and pushing me to dream big.”
The Privateers are led by Stacy Hollowell, a former assistant at Texas Southern who just finished up his first season with the program. They finished the season at 4-27, and are looking to get things on track this fall with the additions of Boudouma, and recently announced, Panagiotis Pagonis – a steal out of Massanutten Military Academy we got plenty of looks at over the winter in the National Prep Championship Series.
Boudouma feels strongly about the vision in place to get the program rolling once again, “I choose New Orleans because I felt comfortable and wanted by the coach,” speaking to how Hollowell made him feel like a wanted commodity for the program.
He went on with more praise and excitement as well: “I just feel good about this school. When I went for my official visit and met my future teammates, the coaching staff and explored the city – I knew I wanted to be over there.”
As a Division One prospect, Boudouma checks off a lot of boxes with his skillset. He stands at six-eight, shoots it well from behind the line, competes hard on the boards, and can score off the rip as well.
He’s only a few years into his basketball career, and with more emphasis on development, may be a real problem playing in the Southland Conference.
Time will tell, but it looks like the New Orleans program has a player ready to work, and contribute to what they are attempting to build in the Big Easy.
Enzo Boudouma