Rutgers-Newark Athletics

By Jim Hague

Rutgers-Newark head women’s basketball coach Kevin Morris didn’t pull any punches when it came to the recruiting of his senior leader Bimpe Fageyinbo.

“I guess it helps having a recruiter at the same dinner table,” Morris laughed.

Morris said that because Bimpe came to R-N after her older sister, Eni, was already a member of the Scarlet Raiders’ women’s basketball program for a season.

“Eni was part of our first big recruiting class four years ago,” Morris said. “And Eni was a major part of the success we had. Bimpe realized that she wanted to be a part of that and realized that it was a good fit for her as well.”

So after Bimpe Fageyinbo (pronounced FOG-EE-EN-BO) graduated from Parsippany Hills High School, she attended the County College of Morris for one year and played basketball there.

“I went to County College of Morris because I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” Fageyinbo said. “I played basketball and ran track in high school and I didn’t know which sport I wanted to play. I decided to choose basketball over track.”

So Bimpe decided to go where her older sister was.

“Eni really liked the school, the atmosphere, the dorms, the basketball team,” Bimpe Fageyinbo said. “I guess I wanted the same thing.”

Although they are separated by a little more than a year, the Fageyinbo sisters have been incorrectly identified many times as twins.

“I guess because we have the same athletic build, the same jump shot and play a lot like each other, that people think we’re twins,” Bimpe Fageyinbo said. “I don’t know why, but I hear it all the time.”

“They do have games that are very similar,” Morris said. “They play the game a lot alike. It’s a little uncanny.”

For her first two years with the Scarlet Raiders, Bimpe’s production has been almost a complete mirror image of each other. Last year, as a junior, Bimpe averaged 5.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. As a sophomore, the numbers were strikingly similar (5.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game). It was all with her older sister by her side.

But as the 2008-09 season has begun, Bimpe Fageyinbo has had to go it alone. She’s playing without her older sister for the first time since they started high school. Eni graduated last spring, leaving Bimpe to carry on at R-N.

“I must admit that I miss my sister and the rest of the group,” Bimpe Fageyinbo said. “We basically have a new team and we’re getting used to the new players. We graduated so many players that I’ve tried to take charge and get everyone comfortable.”

Morris knows that he needs a big season from the younger Fageyinbo.

“Bimpe is probably our most complete player,” Morris said. “She’s been able to carve out her own identity. But no question, we need Bimpe to play a lot and play well. We don’t have a lot of room for error with this team. Plain and simple, if Bimpe doesn’t play well, we’re not going to win.”

Bimpe Fageyinbo knows that she has to take more of a leadership role this season.

“I really believe it’s my job to take the leadership role,” said the senior swingman. “I have to make everyone feel comfortable and with a new team, we’re not at all comfortable yet. We’re learning how each other plays. I have to make sure that we’re organized and everyone is settled down.”

Morris likes the relationship he has with the 5-foot-7 versatile performer.

“Bimpe is a very competitive person,” Morris said. “She has a very strong will. Sometimes, it doesn’t always match well with Coach Morris. But she plays hard all the time and her teammates respect her. And she has a great sense of humor. I like to make fun of her and she makes fun of me. It’s all good natured.”

“We do have a good relationship,” Bimpe Fageyinbo said. “He’s a good guy, both on and off the court. We joke with each other and yell at each other. It’s all good. Coach has his fair share of jokes and he makes me laugh. Sometimes, I do get frustrated and I yell. He understands that it’s what I do.”

Morris is happy with the development of Fageyinbo as a senior leader, who will graduate in May with a degree in marketing.

“She has become more of a vocal leader and she has to lead the way for us,” Morris said.

Needless to say, Bimpe Fageyinbo is happy to have followed in her older sister’s footsteps and kept the family tradition alive.

“I’m glad I came here,” Fageyinbo said. “I made the right decision.”