When he arrived that evening at the Élancourt sports center (Yvelines) to attend the basketball training of a youth team, some players greeted him with a pompous “Mr. President”. “They are carrying me away,” Arsone Mendy immediately responds with a huge smile. The atmosphere is relaxed, the good humor palpable. For others, those who have known him for years, he is still little Arsone, the kid from the Nouveaux Horizons district of Élancourt, not far from the gym, and also “the basketball player”. At only 25 years old, Arsone Mendy already has several lives.
Professional basketball player, winner in particular of the Coupe de France trophy at the Accor Arena with Fougères in 2022 and the Copa Princesa (the 2nd national cup in Spain) with Palencia last season – he also became, at the age of 21, the president of his “heart club”, that of “ [ses] beginnings”, which is evolving modestly at the regional level. “At the time the Fédé (French basketball team) told me that I was the youngest but I never checked,” he smiles. Maybe that’s still the case…”
