ONWARD & UPWARD

During an early morning workout, Mike Boynton realized someone was running laps on the indoor track that surrounded him.

The person passed by once, then another time, visible through the weight room’s expansive windows. Striding ahead, he stood taller than any of the athletes Boynton typically saw in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Oklahoma State men’s basketball coach had to do a double take.

“Is that Moussa?” he thought. Boynton had plenty of reasons to doubt his initial hunch.

From day one, Cisse’s OSU career was o and running.

And he’s still going.

The junior from Conakry, Guinea, announced his decision in March to return to the Cowboys instead of going through the NBA Draft process. His choice to stay at OSU reflects his loyalty to Boynton, to his teammates and to the fanbase.

Most of all, it shows his determination to stay true to himself.

Cisse heard voices in the basketball world, many outside OSU, trying to sway him toward a pro career. The opinions

He left home at age 14, moving to a di erent continent and immersing himself in the United States’ largest metropolis. His college career took him from Memphis to OSU, where he’s established himself as a dominant shot-blocker and boosted his status as an NBA prospect. At the same time, he was grieving the death of a beloved family member — his mother, Saran Kante — who taught him a lesson he never forgets.

“As you’re getting older, things are gonna start getting hard,” Cisse said, remembering her wisdom. “I’ve seen that now. Things are really getting hard, but you just gotta fight through it.”

Amid the challenges, Cisse found something at OSU that led him to stay — happiness. He thrives with his teammates on the historic maple floor of Eddie Sutton Court. His constant dedication to improvement, evident on his first day with the Cowboys, has sent him on a fulfilling journey.

It’s a path he never expected to follow as someone who didn’t play basketball until his teenage years.

pitch. His older brothers, noticing his increasing height, realized basketball could be a good fit for him.

So three months after his 14th birthday, Cisse took a giant leap in pursuit of a dream.

His mom understandably had concerns.

Her teenage son, not yet of legal driving age in the United States, was moving more than 4,000 miles away to New York City, a megalopolis teeming with millions of people. Many New Yorkers would not speak French so he would need to learn a new language. He had grown up in a tight-knit household with five older sisters and three older brothers, often turning to them for advice.

The support of a sibling helped his case. Bah realized Cisse would have too much catching up to do if he waited to play basketball in the United States until college. He would benefit from going earlier, Bah explained, so Kante agreed to let it happen.

When Cisse arrived at LaGuardia Airport on a chilly day in Queens, he wondered if he made the right decision. December in Guinea was never this cold, so Cisse stepped o the airplane without winter layers in an unfamiliar place.

He called his mom, and they cried together.

“I was like, ‘I want to go back home,’” Cisse said.

Cisse wishes he had a video compilation of his earliest dunk attempts.

As a talented big man who has slammed the ball through the hoop numerous times in Gallagher-Iba Arena, he laughs about his beginner days.

As an adolescent, Cisse was proud of himself. He didn’t care about the intricacies of the game, he said. He just wanted to dunk

Cisse practiced over and over, springing toward the hoop until he finally had the timing and coordination for his best Air Jordan impression. Although he doesn’t have a highlight reel — or blooper reel, he might say — of every dunk, he eagerly sent a video to older brother Zaynoul Bah as evidence of his new skill.

Bah had played basketball at Birmingham Southern College in the United States. But in Guinea, their home nation on the west coast of Africa, Cisse had little exposure to the sport.

Instead of dribbling, he was accustomed to kicking a ball.

“It’s part of the culture to play soccer,” Cisse said. “As soon as you come back from school, put your stu up and put your cleats on and go to the soccer field. That’s what everybody does.”

As a young winger, Cisse towered over his peers on the

The first day was overwhelming, yet Cisse didn’t hop back on a plane. His brother Mohamed, who joined him at the airport, bought him a jacket. Although Cisse never developed a fondness for cold weather, he immediately loved pizza in the Big Apple.

And his new favorite sport was as popular in New York as soccer was in Guinea.

Cisse played basketball at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School and then at Christ the King High School. He played basketball on the AAU circuit. He also played basketball with friends in local parks, learning two languages simultaneously: English and the rules of the game.

“I started adapting pretty fast,” Cisse said.

As he attracted attention on the court, he learned about another fascinating dimension of the sport — the recruiting world. Finishing his high school career in Tennessee, he was ranked first among all class of 2021 recruits in the state, according to 247Sports Composite.

Cisse achieved the rare five-star status and held the title of Tennessee’s “Mr. Basketball,” opening up an array of college options.

He had enormous potential, but he had to brush up on the technical aspects of his game.

After a year of college, Cisse would accelerate that process with guidance from a coach who once played for his rival high school in New York.

“I’m not a psychiatrist, I’m not a psychologist, I’m just a basketball coach,” Boynton said. “But I care about people, and I wanted him to know that it wasn’t about Moussa Cisse the basketball player at that moment.

“It was about his well-being, his mental space, and we wanted to do everything we could to support him through that however we could, whether it be helping him get back home, whether it be giving him time away from the team and really letting him know that he’s got family here.”

Cisse gave himself that space, returning home to spend time with his family.

More importantly, Cisse needed the Cowboys.

“We’re always together, and we support each other,” Cisse said. “Every time somebody goes through stu , we all come together.

“That’s why I’m really embraced by this team.”

With an easygoing sense of humor o the court, Cisse quickly endeared himself to Boynton and the Cowboys. He’s bonded with Boynton over fun topics — such as the rivalry between their former high schools Christ the King and Bishop Loughlin — and opened up to him about personal matters.

On the court, Cisse is a serious student of the game.

Both factors, those personal relationships and his dedication to improvement, influenced Cisse’s decision to stay in Stillwater for another year. As he grows, he continues to listen to the voices that are important to him.

Boynton, who let Cisse make his own choice about returning or leaving, said he was happy to be a sounding board during the process. Cisse’s older brothers are lifelong mentors.

And he is constantly motivated to honor his mother’s memory. When Cisse announced his decision to return, he dedicated it to Kante, saying, “Let’s run it back for Mommy” in his tweet.

With inspiration from those loved ones, Cisse has learned how to forge his path, one that crosses cities, countries and continents. His NBA dreams are as strong as ever, and he realizes what he has to do to get there.

First, he has the chance to grow as a Cowboy. He has the chance to keep bonding with his teammates. And this time, he can work toward postseason dreams.

In the winter, at the end of his trip back home, Cisse experienced multiple flight delays on his return to Stillwater. Boynton would have understood if Cisse needed more time for himself.

But when Boynton arrived at Gallagher-Iba Arena for his 6:30 a.m. workout, Cisse showed up too, just as he did on his first day at OSU.

It’s where Cisse wants to be. That decision is his.

“He’s made tremendous strides,” Boynton said. “I think people will be a little bit surprised by the amount of growth that he’s made since March 5 when we played our last game, and it all has to do with making the mature decision, knowing that he needed more time to mature, to grow, to get confidence and to be a more consistently productive basketball player night in and night out.

“And I think that will pay dividends for him this season.”