Mark Pope respects what Mo Dioubate (23) is doing to honor his faith. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Mo Dioubate had eight points and four rebounds in 23 minutes in Saturday’s win over Vanderbilt when — as usual — he bullied his way around the basket, played physical defense and made effort plays that can help change a game.
What makes the senior’s play even more impressive is that he has been playing recent games while observing Ramadan — the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting from dawn to sunset, communal prayer, reflection and community.
Imagine playing as hard as Dioubate always does and not even drinking any type of liquid during a Southeastern Conference basketball game because of his religious beliefs.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope values his Mormon faith. Kentucky sophomore guard Collin Chandler, who had 23 points Saturday, went on a two-year Mormon mission trip between high school and playin for UK.
After Saturday’s game Pope was asked if Kentucky was doing “anything special” to help maintain Dioubate’s energy level during times he has to fast?
“We’ve talked about it as a team. I think when you sacrifice, literally when you make things sacred, you hope you spend your whole life making things sacred. And he is making this sacred,” the Kentucky coach said. “When you sacrifice to make things sacred, the payoffs sometimes is rewarded by a great play, sometimes it’s just inside yourself.
“But you always get a payoff for making things sacred. It takes a lot of work and sacrifice to make things sacred. But that’s what he’s doing. I have unbelievable respect for him. Think about just what he’s doing, and to do with this point in the season. And there’s nobody that’s making him do it. It’s just a sign of his devotion and his faith.”
Pope said Dioubate’s choice is not to even rinse his mouth out during games.
“He got up this morning and had a full shootaround and then rested and had a full game and then he comes out here and plays 24 minutes in a really, really competitive game. And is incredibly physical. And never even rinsed his mouth out and won’t for the next five hours until he eats again,” Pope said after the game.
“I think that’s a beautiful thing. I think when people make commitments like that and they sacrifice to make things sacred, I think it is special. It’s just who he is. I can talk about that for days because I’m really proud of him. It’s just a great sign. We should all be taking things in our life and making them sacred.”
2 Responses
Mo has come a long way since the beginning of the season. He doesn't always looked ticked off at his teammates. These 9 guys are starting to gel at the right time. We need to win one of the next two games. It would be nice to win both but let's be realistic. We need to either beat Texas A&M on the road or we need to take care of business at home against Florida. I would rather beat Florida but we really need the Texas A&M game. If we win at least one of the next two we should finish 4th in the SEC. Which earns a buy in the first round. We need to win at least 20 games going into the SEC tourney. Then we need to win at least two games in the SEC tournament. If we can even just make it to the championship we will probably be a 5-6 seed. Which we would play a 11 or 12 seed team. Which will probably be a SEC team like Georgia. I wish we would play a big east team. I do think the SEC should get at least 9 teams in the tournament. Maybe 10.
Terry, he sure has matured starting to his free throws.. I thought he was a beast in the paint against vandy, I hope he sustains his momentum… Hell several players stepped up in this game it's kinda like vandy POKED THE BEAR !!!!!! Hope we sustain this MOmentum….