GAINESVILLE, Fla. - After two seasons with Santa Fe College men's basketball, Yaw Obeng-Mensah has signed to continue his playing career with the UMBC Retrievers.

Division I UMBC, or the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, is best known in the basketball world for the program's remarkable upset in the 2018 NCAA Tournament of No. 1 Virginia. 74-54. The Retrievers made history with the victory, becoming the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in tournament history.  

Obeng-Mensah will play for UMBC's Jim Ferry, who was announced as the new Head Coach on April 14. Ferry served as the interim Head Coach at Penn State University during the 2020-21 season.

UMBC has had three-consecutive 20 win seasons and won a share of the America East Regular Season title this past winter. Over the last five seasons, the Retrievers have reached at least the America East semifinals four times, winning the conference title in 2018 en route to the historic win in the NCAA Tournament over the Virginia Cavaliers. 

Obeng-Mensah joins the Retrievers after being selected as a First Team All-Conference player during his sophomore season at SF. He was also chosen as a First Team All-Mid-Florida Conference honoree in 2019-2020.

The 6'7" forward from Toronto, Ontario started in all 20 games in 2020-21 and nearly averaged a double-double with 12.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. His rebounding average ranked No. 2 in the FCSAA and No. 22 in the NJCAA.

Obeng-Mensah compiled eight double-doubles on the season, and set new career-highs in points (30) against Daytona State on Feb. 13 and rebounds (16) against St. Petersburg on March 8.  

As a freshman in 2019-20, Obeng-Mensah played 31 games for the Saints, starting in 20. He averaged 11.1 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting from the floor. His 345 points on the season were a team-high, and he also led the team in rebounding (6.7/game) and total steals (33). In the classroom, Obeng-Mensah was part of the FCSAA and Mid-Florida Conference All-Academic team

"We are thrilled for Yaw, he will be joining an outstanding basketball program at UMBC!" expressed Head Coach Chris Mowry. 

"Yaw has made huge contributions to our team the last two years, and has worked hard on and off the court to achieve his dreams. We look forward to following him at UMBC!"