NBA Academy Graduate Babacar Sane Signs With Ignite

HENDERSON, Nev., Oct. 26, 2022 – NBA Academy graduate Babacar Sane of Senegal has signed with NBA G League Ignite, General Manager Anthony McClish announced today.

The 19-year-old guard becomes the fifth NBA Academy graduate to sign with Ignite, joining fellow 2022-23 Ignite players Efe Abogidi of Nigeria and Mojave King of Australia and Ignite alums Dyson Daniels of Australia and Princepal Singh of India.

Sane also joins Abogidi as the two players to sign with Ignite after participating in NBA Academy Africa, an elite basketball training center in Saly, Senegal, for top high school-age prospects from across Africa.  A native of Bignona, Senegal, Sane started with NBA Academy Africa in 2019.    

Sane was one of the 12 prospects from NBA Academy Africa selected to play in the 2022 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season through the BAL Elevate program, competing for Dakar Université Club.

In international competition, Sane has played with the Senegalese National Team at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers.  He has appeared in five games as the youngest member of the team.  Sane also represented Senegal at the 2020 FIBA U18 African Championship, where he averaged 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in five games and helped the team reach the final.      

Sane becomes the seventh player on the 2022-23 Ignite roster who has not gone through the NBA Draft process yet, joining Abogidi, King, Sidy Cissoko, Scoot Henderson, London Johnson and Leonard Miller. Both Sane and Johnson will be eligible for the 2024 NBA Draft and have signed with Ignite for two seasons.

Ignite tips off its 2022-23 NBA G League season against the Oklahoma City Blue on Friday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev.