After being sidelined the past couple of months due to a torn meniscus, Selom Mawugbe did not lose a step making the most of first career start for the Santa Cruz Warriors. The 6’10” center put up an impressive stat line of nine rebounds and seventeen points without missing a single shot. While this performance came as a welcome surprise to many, fans from his alma mater, Azusa Pacific University (APU), knew it was only a matter of time.
Mawugbe style of play is reminiscent Dwight Howard’s dominant post-play of the late 2000’s. A style of play that requires a player to endure the most physical punishment out of anyone on the court. His former coach Peter Bond said “From day one, Selom showed an eagerness and commitment to development and growth in the most basic fundamentals of the game, which is very unique from most players in today’s age of basketball. Few would have the determination and patience to engage daily in the mundane work that he did, and it allowed him to turn into one of the most dominant players in the country by the end of his time with us.”
From 2016-2020, Mawugbe developed into one of best basketball players in APU history. As the anchor of their defense he holds all the programs for blocks and also earned a PacWest Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. His offense was just as stellar as led the nation in field goal converting on 71% of his shots en route to becoming the PacWest Player of the Year in 2020.
Since joining the Warriors in 2020, he has been an effective role player averaging five points and rebounds with a pair of blocks a game. Hopefully this terrific outing by Mawugbe will earn him more minutes in Santa Cruz’s rotation.
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