Boston College Eagles' incoming Senegalese offensive tackle, Pape Abdoulaye Sy, is proof that Osi Umenyiora's partnership with the NFL in Africa can produce top talents beyond Nigeria, where the majority have come from to date.
Like many of his Nigerian counterparts who have come through the NFL Academy and IPP Program, Abdoulaye Sy was a basketball player before converting to football.
Abdoulaye Sy told ESPN: "I got a call from my coach, who told me they want me to do a two-day [football] camp in Dakar. After that, it was basically six players from Senegal and we headed to Nairobi [in April] and that's where everything started.
"I played basketball most of my life... I didn't have this kind of opportunity in basketball."
Although he was aware he had the physical attributes for American football and was contemplating giving it a shot once he secured a place in the US through basketball, he did not realise that he could switch sports before leaving Senegal.
After impressing in Kenya at an NFL Africa camp led by Umenyiora and attended by the likes of Brian Asamoah (Minnesota Vikings), Emmanuel Ogbah (Miami Dolphins), Arnold Ebiketie (Atlanta Falcons), Ikem Ekwonu (Carolina Panthers) and Paulson Adebo (New Orleans Saints), Abdoulaye Sy moved on to the NFL Academy, headquartered in Loughborough, United Kingdom.
There, he was under the guidance of expert coaches led by former Cleveland Browns and New York Jets assistant coach Steve Hagen. Umenyiora, the British-Nigerian two-time Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants, also kept a watchful eye on his Senegalese rising star's progress.
"Coach Hagen is like a dad to me, because when I came down to Loughborough to the NFL Academy, it was really hard at the beginning, because I didn't know any rules. I didn't even know all the names of the [positions]," Abdoulaye Sy recalled.
"I just knew my position I play - offensive tackle - and I knew all the offensive linemen, but I didn't know about linebackers, corners or anything, but he helped me a lot.
"Every time he saw me, he just [said]: 'Come in my office. We're going to try the playbook, watch films, adjust steps...' I learned the playbook in like three months... I had to learn to be better once I had the opportunity to play somewhere.
"Osi is like an angel because he has helped a lot of kids out there in Africa. This is a big experience with the Uprise, because he has reached a lot of countries right now. In the beginning, it was just Nigeria, but right now we have, we have Morocco, Senegal, Kenya... In Cameroon, too, there's a lot of players that are going to come... Shoutout to him. He did something really great."
Boston had been monitoring Abdoulaye Sy since the camp in Nairobi and although he had the option to go the JUCO route, it was not difficult for him to settle on the Eagles.
"Boston followed me since April - since they saw me at the camp - and coach [Chris] Snee did a really good job to recruit me, because every day, he was texting me: 'How are you doing at the academy? Did you manage to learn the playbook?'...
"He always pumped me up to go. Every time we had a scrimmage, he texted me to make sure I did the right thing in the plays. It was really awesome.
"That's what made me consider the offer from Boston, and then once I got there, I felt massive love from them, so I was like: 'Yeah, this is the right place for me, so I need to settle there - no doubt."
Abdoulaye Sy will follow in the footsteps of Tennessee tight end Emmanuel Okoye, who opened the floodgates for Umenyiora's recruits out of Africa in the NFL Academy when he committed to the Vols ahead of this season.
Several of the European players to commit to respected Division I colleges out of the academy also have African roots, including Daniel Akinkunmi (Oklahoma), Lopez Sanusi (Boise State) and Timi Oke (Northwestern).
The African talent has certainly made an impression at Loughborough, with Abdoulaye Sy's British academy teammate Luke Yau Gayle, who recently committed to Buffalo, telling ESPN: "I'd say it's just athletic ability and the strength [that stands out among African players in the NFL Academy]. It's mad - nobody had ever seen it before, but it's good."
The NFL's inaugural camp in Africa was as recent as June 2022, when they touched down in Ghana, and after the Nairobi camp in April 2023, there are bound to be more opportunities around the corner.
As a result of Abdoulaye Sy's success, it has now been proven that talents from all over Africa - not only Nigeria - can benefit.
The NFL and College football air on ESPN's channels in Africa (DSTV 218 and 219).