Nathan Mensah has always been a defensive guy, even before he picked up a basketball for the first time growing up in his native Ghana, a West African country located between Ivory Coast and Togo. Soccer is a way of life in this part of the world and because of his height, Mensah often found himself playing goalie – the ultimate defensive guy – in Accra’s local pickup games.
“I started playing soccer because everybody in my neighborhood did,” said Mensah, whose cousin introduced him to the sport around age 13. “Basketball came when I started growing taller. I used to be the goalkeeper and then I started refusing, which led me to becoming a basketball player. Being on the soccer field all the time, you build endurance. It helps with coordination a lot.”
Before reaching his eventual 6’10” height with a 7’5.5” wingspan, Mensah was somewhat lukewarm on basketball to start. “Even when I started playing basketball, I didn’t know I was that good. People were just telling me how good I was, and I was like, ‘Well, maybe it’s just because they want me to keep on playing and not give up.’ During my high school career, I played with a lot of good players, and I saw what basketball did for them in their lives. I was like, ‘Hey, that can also change my path and create something new for me.’”
Soon, he caught the attention of fellow Ghanian Kwaku Amoaku, a former collegiate player at Grand Canyon University and current Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at San Diego Miramar College. Amoaku is also the founder and CEO of the African Youth Basketball Organization (AYBO), a non-profit program that provides education and basketball opportunities through camps and clinics for children all over the African continent.
Through Amoaku, Mensah ended up moving to the United States for high school, first to New York, then Prolific Prep in California and finally Nevada’s Findlay Prep. He chose to stay west and play collegiately at San Diego State University, where he enrolled in the fall of 2018. Following a solid freshman campaign, his sophomore season lasted only 13 games after he exited a game against Cal Poly on December 28, 2019, and was later diagnosed with a blood clot in his lungs.
While this condition certainly could have been career-ending (like it was for Hall-of-Famer Chris Bosh), Mensah returned to the court and played out his final three seasons, the last two of which he was named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year. This past spring, he and the Aztecs went on a Cinderella run through the NCAA Tournament leading into the program’s first-ever National Championship Game appearance.
“It was great,” said Mensah, when asked about his final season at San Diego State. “For us seniors, we had been to the [NCAA Tournament] three times. The first two times, we lost in the first round. To get an opportunity to even go past the first round was an excitement for us, especially to go all the way to the Final. I feel like it’s something we’ve done not just for ourselves, but also San Diego State basketball.”
Despite the defensive accolades, the now 25-year-old Mensah went undrafted last month before quickly latching on with the Hornets for Summer League. He’s appeared in two games so far, averaging 5.0 points on 50.0% shooting, 3.5 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block over 16.1 minutes as a backup center.
“It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “It’s an opportunity that as a kid, I was hoping to get and play for an NBA organization. I’m blessed to get this opportunity through the Charlotte Hornets. I was always a defensive guy and I’ve always relied on my defense to get me places. My defense got me to San Diego State and made a huge impact this year and I’d like to do the same here.”
Like most undrafted rookies, Mensah is looking to take advantage of whatever minutes he can get as he embarks on a professional career. But not many in Mensah’s position are coming from a country that has extremely little representation at this level. “All it takes is one person,” said Mensah. “A lot of African countries have had guys become established. It’s a trend for those countries. Me playing and impacting that role, that’ll help not only me, but also others, as well.”
To date, only two Ghanian-born players have ever made it to the NBA. Ben Bentil was drafted 51st overall out of Providence in 2016 and appeared in three games for Dallas later in his rookie season. The other is Amida Brimah, who went undrafted in 2017 after playing at UConn, then following time in the G League and overseas, played five games for Indiana during the 2020-21 campaign. Now retired, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who played 61 games with five NBA teams from 2006-11, was born in London to Ghanian parents, but represented Great Britain internationally.
Unranked in FIBA’s latest world rankings in February of 2023, Ghana’s Senior National Team has never entered qualifying for the Summer Olympics, World Championships, AfroBasket or the African Games and primarily only plays ‘friendly’ games. There are male and female youth teams and a 3x3 squad, but the competition sort of stops after that. With a population of nearly 34 million and there being a palpable interest in the sport, there is real potential for basketball in Ghana, but a lack of resources and funding are currently the biggest hurdles to overcome.
Summer League is all about opportunity and Mensah knows he has a good one on his hands that few from his country have ever had. And likewise, Ghana has the chance to watch one of its own out on the hardwood while officially representing an NBA organization.