Very true about hype surrounding Polee and that he was coddled. It was probably a relief to some degree when he left. I think everyone here knows that he was in the news from an early age, having been offered -- or so the story goes -- a scholarship by USC as a high school freshman. But he was built to dominate the high school game and make the high light reels with his jumping. Unreal expectations and lots of advocates promoting him.
In some respects, Balamou is the anti-Polee. He flew in under the radar. No entourage. No distractions. And he's making it in the traditional New York style with a 'can do' spirit. He works hard all the time, takes nothing for granted, does whatever the coaches want whenever they ask, and trusts the process. He's a hungry lone wolf, determined to make it in the USA with basketball, very far from little Guinea in West Africa which ranks among the poorest countries on the planet.