Fall and Diop, find a home at Accelerated Prep in Denver
Nationally acclaimed recruits, Fall and Diop, stay in Denver for the 2023 senior year.
A new team in Denver, Accelerated Prep, has just picked up Baye Fall and Assane Diop. These two nationally sought-after basketball players have decided to stay in Denver and take advantage of the opportunity offered by Accelerated Prep.
Both have enrolled at the Denver-based academy, Accelerated Prep. Accelerated Prep is a nontraditional school and is the latest incarnation of a dream that began in 1974. Accelerated Prep takes full advantage of the Accelerated Schools curriculum, tailoring it individually for both of the rising sports stars.
In the 2022-2023 school year, the new team will participate in the NIT, or National Invitational Tournament, along with games in the national basketball prep circuit known as Grind Session. They will do all this while completing the Accelerated Schools curriculum for NCAA enrollment.
“We can individualize the curriculum for every single student. We have a lot of flexibility which is great if kids are needing to take some time off from school, whether that’s for social, medical, mental, or athletics. We can adapt around them. It becomes a really great fit for these types of students,” said Michelle Tuengel, the executive director of Accelerated Schools.
Baye Fall is the #12 best recruit, sought after by all of the great basketball schools. He has already received scholarship offers from some of the top basketball colleges and universities in the country.
Assane Diop is the #80 recruit in the country, considered a four-star recruit. He has a small list of schools he’s interested in attending, including Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, BYU, Colorado, Ohio State, Kansas State, and Seton Hall.
Both students were teammates with the Colorado Hawks, an AAU team. They each have led a team to a state championship, both in 2020. Both had joined the Grind Session last year, attending Denver Prep Academy. Both left in February, and since the DPA has ceased operation, selling their facilities.
The director of the Colorado Hawks, Greg Willis, has co-founded Accelerated Prep with the CEO of Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, Jonathan Barnett. Both men had previously worked on the Denver Prep Academy leadership team.
Willis’ family hosts both recruits, Diop and Fall, who are originally from Senegal. He had this to say, “Accelerated Schools loved the kids, and they thought it would be a great opportunity because they didn’t have an athletics program. It was such a great relationship. We came to an agreement that it would be a good fit for all of us.”
Accelerated Prep has begun building its team, recruiting students to fill their positions. Three of the 11 spots are already taken, and coaching positions and gym locations are still being considered. The team will begin practicing in September.
About the team this year, Willis said, “We’ll have a strong team. We have to recruit kids by position and who is playing. I think the mistake a lot of teams make is over-recruiting top players. You’ve got to get good players, of course, but it’s also how they fit in the team concept. Character is first.”
Fall and Diop, for their part, have been making waves with outstanding performances in the AAU showcase events. Fall, at 6’10” and 205 pounds, was named MVP Pangos All-American Camp top 30 Game. He also came in as scoring leader and rebounder in NBPA’s top 100 camp.
Diop also turned heads, being 6’10 and around 190, and was named the MVP of the PAAC top 60 game.