As boys, Almamy Thiero and Modibo Diarra were separated by three miles of West African terrain.

Now, as men, they’re inseparable.

Both plan to be at Madison Square Garden tonight when their Memphis team plays Syracuse at 7 in the opening game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. But only one of the Mali natives will suit up for the game, because Thiero is out until next month with a stress fracture in his leg.

The journeys of both men date to 1996 and the basketball court where they first met.

Back then, neither could have imagined that their skills would lead them hundreds of miles apart and then, six years later, reunite them on the same college team. It was just like Mali — but it was Memphis.

In 1996, Thiero heard rumors about a blossoming man-child his countrymen called ‘Dibo.’ Thiero even went to the basketball court in his village of SeGou to watch Diarra — who, at that time, ranked as the No. 1 basketball player in Mali.

One day, Thiero conquered his nerves and joined his role model on the court. Together, they dominated.

They’ve done so ever since.

At about the same time Diarra left Mali to play high school basketball in the United States, Thiero — who was three years younger — began to establish his own reputation. As a 15-year-old, Thiero was listed as one of his country’s top-10 basketball prospects. Already, he had nearly grown into his current 6-foot-10, 258-pound frame.

‘I was the big man on the team,’ Thiero said with an understatement even stronger than his African accent.

By 16, Thiero was ready to follow Diarra’s path to the States. He was brought over by Linzy Davis, head basketball coach of the AAU Team Georgia, whom Thiero befriended at a basketball tournament in France. Davis became his legal guardian.

Thiero first enrolled at Moore High School in Louisville, Ky. But after spending two years there, he transferred to basketball powerhouse Mount Zion Christian Academy in Durham, N.C., where he was coached by Tony Fozard.

Diarra, meanwhile, was playing basketball at Notre Dame Prep — a basketball factory for fifth-year high school seniors — in Fitchburg, Mass., while being recruited to play at Memphis.

As if Thiero’s and Diarra’s transitions to the United States weren’t hard enough, neither knew how to speak English. Amazingly, Thiero, who speaks French and a native African dialect, needed just nine months to pick up English. Fozard said Thiero’s ability to adapt comes from his upbringing in Mali.

‘(The foreign players) are willing to listen,’ Fozard said. ‘They haven’t been spoiled by the system.’

‘The Mali kids listen,’ Davis said. ‘They learn how to play the right way the first time.’

For Thiero, his first couple years of high school at Moore were hard.

‘I didn’t understand nobody,’ Thiero said. ‘In Mali, you can live for free. You can go to somebody’s house, explain your problem, and they’ll take care of you. Here, you can’t do that.’

Another difference between Mali and the United States is the respect shown for elders.

‘If someone tells you to do something, you have to do it,’ Thiero said. ‘Here, you see children cuss their mom out. You would never see that in Mali.’

Perhaps that is where Thiero, despite his size, gets his soft-spoken and gentle presence.

It’s his modesty and good nature that his coaches rave about.

‘As a dad, he’s the type of guy that you’d want your daughter to marry,’ Davis said. ‘He’s a first-class kid.’

And a superior power forward.

During his senior year at Mount Zion, Thiero was named his team’s most valuable player. At a school that routinely plays teams with Division I- and National Basketball Association-caliber players, Thiero averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds a game.

As a junior, Thiero played against an Oak Hill Academy team chock-full of D-I talent like Syracuse’s Billy Edelin, Oklahoma guard Rashaad Carruth and current Cleveland Cavalier DeSagana Diop. Thiero held Diop to eight points, while scoring 14 himself.

Thiero had options following graduation from Mount Zion. Scouts from big-name schools such as Kentucky, Louisville, Oklahoma, Michigan and Kansas recruited him.

But all along, he knew where he had to go.

Why Memphis?

‘Because Modibo’s here,’ he said.

Memphis head coach John Calipari also played a big role in Thiero’s decision.

‘I like (Calipari), I want to play for him,” Thiero said. “Modibo told me a lot about Coach Cal.”

Although he won’t play tonight, Thiero should be in Madison Square Garden, sitting on the bench and cheering on his boyhood role model.

And although he dreams of one day suiting up for an NBA team, his mindset has changed a little.

He now wants to return by the time Memphis reaches conference play.

‘His stress fracture will keep him out until December,’ Calipari said. ‘That really hurts (our team).’

While Thiero sits patiently, awaiting his turn in the limelight, he can at least take comfort in that his best friend Diarra is along for the ride.

‘We do everything together,’ Thiero said. ‘We lift weights together — everything.’

Sitting on the bench, Thiero will long for the good old days. The days when the two would play soccer together until late at night. When they’d play pickup basketball together, always on the same team.

Then he’ll think back to a month ago — to the start of practice — when they squared off, face-to-face on the basketball court for the first time.

Student versus teacher.

Mentor versus apprentice.

Even with Diarra’s three-year advantage, Thiero now claims he’s equal to his mentor.

‘I beat him a lot of times,’ Thiero chuckled. ‘(Back) then, he was better. But now? No.’

Published on November 13, 2002 at 12:00 pm