UMBC men’s basketball senior Yaw Obeng-Mensah recently chatted with PressBox about growing up in Canada, being one of the Retrievers’ few returners and more. The 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward averaged 6.9 points and 5.3 rebounds for UMBC last year. Prior to that, he spent two seasons at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Fla. Obeng-Mensah is a native of Toronto and graduate of Emery Collegiate Institute.
PressBox: How did you become interested in basketball?
Yaw Obeng-Mensah: Basically, it happened when I was in the fifth grade. I wasn’t as tall as everybody else. I was a little short guy. At first I wasn’t really playing basketball. I started off with soccer because my family’s very big on soccer, but I just wanted to be different, turn around and go play basketball. So I just started off in the fifth grade.
PB: When did you hit your growth spurt?
YOM: I hit my growth spurt actually in the eighth grade. I became 6-3, 6-4 in the eighth grade, which was pretty amazing.
PB: What position did you play when you started and what did you develop into?
YOM: I was actually a point guard when I started because I was so small. But developing growing up, I became more of a small forward. I also played point guard from time to time.
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
YOM: My biggest influence is definitely my parents, for sure, and one [other] person I’ll say is my coach. His name is [Carlos Wadley]. He coached me in AAU back in Toronto, where I’m from. He had the biggest influence on me. He made sure I was in the gym every day working hard, getting my schoolwork in, too, so he’s my biggest influence.
PB: Why did you transfer to UMBC after two seasons at Sante Fe College?
YOM: I chose UMBC because of the culture, honestly. Of course, COVID hit so it was kind of hard to do a visit, but I did an online visit with all the coaches. I also got a chance to talk to a few players that played with UMBC. I really liked the environment that the school had. Also, I learned about the learning as well because my major is media and communication [studies]. I heard about the great learning and the type of degree I can get for the future in case basketball doesn’t work out. I felt like UMBC was just that perfect school that I wanted to go to, for sure, for the rest of my career.
PB: What’s your favorite memory so far at UMBC?
YOM: My favorite memory is for sure making it to the [America East championship game against Vermont in 2021-22]. I understand that we fell short here and there, but making it to the championship game was our big-time memory because I haven’t been to such a big crowd when we went to Vermont. It was just so memorable.
PB: What’s it like to play for Jim Ferry?
YOM: Honestly, he is a very good coach, in my opinion, because he gets on me every day. When I’m doing it wrong, when I’m doing it right, he gets on me, makes sure that I’m on top of my game, being a leader. He’s just an amazing coach to be with, honestly. I respect him, for sure.
PB: You are one of the few players returning from last year’s team. What’s it like to take on a leadership role?
YOM: Everyone’s been very good. Honestly, we have four returners. Being in that role, it’s a big role because of course I’ve been here for a year even though it’s not long. Just understanding the UMBC flow and just teaching the newcomers and freshmen how UMBC is and just treating us like a family, honestly, because at the end of the day, it’s a family. It’s not just by yourself. We’re here to work hard. We’ve all got that one goal, just a family.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about UMBC?
YOM: My favorite thing about UMBC I can say is the food because I’m a very [big] food guy. Honestly, I eat a lot of food. The amount of food that is here — like the Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’ Donuts, True Grit’s — you can’t go wrong, honestly. They’ve got a lot of food. I’m definitely there.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Baltimore?
YOM: I’m more of a stay-in-my-room kind of guy, but my favorite part about Baltimore is the Ravens. … I have been to [no games], but I’ve been in the area when they’ve played. I’ve seen so many people and I actually want to go to one, for sure. Before I leave UMBC, I have to catch a Ravens game.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
YOM: My best friend on the team is Tre Edwards. We’re both from Canada. He’s from Hamilton and I’m from Toronto. Before, I didn’t really know much about him. I heard about him, but what is interesting is we played each other in the eighth grade, in AAU back in Toronto, and we didn’t really know. He’s just an amazing friend to me. We can relate [on] a lot of things. We [both] have a similar background growing up. He’s just a nice guy to be around, honestly.
PB: Who did you look up to early in your college career?
YOM: I used to look up to [former Maryland star Justin Jackson], honestly, because we [both] played on the same AAU team. He was older, for sure. I tried to kind of model my game after him when I was growing up. Just looking at the way he progressed into becoming a good basketball player, he’s a role model, for sure.
PB: What advice would you give to younger players?
YOM: The advice I’d give to them is when you have an opportunity, just like me, you never take it for granted because there’s a lot of people out there that are wishing to be in my position but can’t really be there or have a difficult route to get to my position. If you have an easy route to my position, never take it for granted as well as never take school for granted because once that ball stops, what else are you doing after that? Honestly, just stay in school and just stay locked in.
PB: What are your goals for after basketball, whenever it ends?
YOM: My goal is definitely getting my degree, for sure, in media and communication as well as I’m trying to open up my own clothing brand, which I’m working on right now [for] after UMBC. I’m into fashion. I’m a guy that likes a lot of fashion, different styles, like throwback styles — baggy jeans, larger T-shirts and stuff. I just want to bring that back into our culture right now.
Photo Credit: Gail Burton/UMBC Athletics