Taiwan's professional basketball T1 LEAGUE has named New Taipei CTBC DEA forward Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga as the rookie of the year for the 2021-2022 season.
In its announcement, the league lauded the 24-year-old Shih Hsin University graduate for his "breakout" performance this season, following his first-round selection by New Taipei in the 2021 draft.
Over the course of 25 regular season games, Bachir finished tenth in the league in scoring with an average of 20.7 points per game, while also averaging 6.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 steals, the league said.
He also became the first player in T1 LEAGUE history to score more than 50 points in a game, with a 52-point performance in a Feb. 27 match against the Tainan TSG Ghosthawks, the league said in the announcement.
Bachir, who is of Senegalese descent, has lived in Taiwan since age 8 and was naturalized as a Republic of China (Taiwan) citizen in 2020. He is known to local fans as "Abbasi" (???).
According to the league, Bachir won the honor with a dominant vote count from the award's judges, earning 32 out of 34 ballots from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters and five of nine votes from team representatives.
The six-team T1 LEAGUE wrapped up its inaugural season on June 4, with the Kaohsiung Aquas defeating the Taichung Wagor Suns in a best-of-five championship series. Bachir's New Taipei CTBC DEA finished third in the league with a 17-13 record.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel