LIVING A LIFE that brings you to Senegal, France, Collorado and Germany exposes you to almost every kind of weather system.
So when Killarney is your next stop on the road, you quickly realise the kind of climate you’re dealing with.
“I’ve been in cold weather. It’s just the rain in Killarney that’s a bit different.”
That’s been Mathilde Diop’s experience since joining the Utility Trust St Paul’s basketball team last November. Adapting to the fizz of the Kerry accent was probably a bigger challenge, but she’s on their frequency now.
Her agent was the one who identified the club as a possible move for her from the German Bundesliga where she had been playing with Neuss.
It seemed like a good fit right from the jump for the forward. The leagues, she has discovered, are pretty similar in Germany and Ireland. And since St Paul’s earned promotion to the Super League for this season, she was eager to embrace the challenge they face in furthering their development.
And now, with just seven games with St Paul’s under her belt and an average of 14.4 points per game, they are on the verge of reaching the play-offs.
“I think we’re in a pretty good position right now,” Diop explains to The 42 ahead of their next game against Trinity. “We’ve just got to keep winning. If we win one more, we should be good.
“I don’t think they were expected to make the play-offs. We haven’t made it yet but that’s the goal.”
Diop was born in Senegal and moved to France when she was 15. She majored in sociology at the University of Colorado where she played Division 1 basketball. Along with her stint in the Bundesliga, she also played in the leagues in France.
The youngest of four siblings, she comes from a family that is steeped in basketball. But Mathilde is the only one who is still shooting hoops. Her father Mouhamadou Moustapha Diop represented Senegal at the Olympic Games in 1980, and is her biggest influence in the sport.
She had the option of declaring for France and Senegal but it was her country of birth that took her preference. Emulating what her father achieved at international level was always a burning ambition for her. But she also had a point to prove when she started that journey. From a young age, she was aware of his legacy, and the comparisons too. That was what drove her on.
“Probably when a lot of people kept telling me about what he did when I was pretty young,” she remembers. “Probably around 15,16. Everybody kept telling me, ‘Oh your Dad was better. He was a shooter blah, blah, blah,” she laughs.
“It was definitely a goal to keep going and hopefully do what he did. Definitely a big influence. Still now so I’m grateful to have him by my side every step of the way.
“The family was here a month ago for a couple of weeks so that was nice. They were at the National Cup semi-final against Killester in Cork.”
The basketball season in Ireland will be coming to a close within the next month and Diop’s international commitments will come into view again. Senegal will be competing in the World Cup 2026 African Pre-Qualifiers in July, and preparation for that starts in June.
Reaching the Super League play-offs is within reach for St Paul’s as they prepare to welcome Trinity to the court this weekend. After that, they’re back on the road to face the SETU Waterford Wildcats before taking on Catalyst Fr Mathews in their final game of the regular season. By that stage, they hope to have their play-off place secured.
Diop’s deal with St Paul’s is for just this season “and then we’ll see,” she says in looking towards the future. Whatever her next move is, the Killarney folks have made a strong impression on her. She’s used to the rain now too.
Mathilde Diop was speaking at the Domino’s & Basketball Ireland Sponsorship Launch
The LOI is gonna be best ever next season, with Bradley, Kenny, Duff, Higgins and Caulfield all fancying their chances
@Caolan Z: great to see.
I’ve met Sean a few times, lovely guy & great player.