Have you seen Yassin?

Yassin Idbihi believes that the University at Buffalo men's basketball team is going to the NCAA tournament.

"We're the most talented team, we just have to play together," Idbihi said.

Those are some pretty strong words, but nobody is going to argue with the 6-foot-10-inch 275-pound gentle giant of a starting center.

At the age of 21, Idbihi has already lived an adventurous life that spans three continents. Idbihi was born in Morocco, but at the age of 15 he shot up to 6 feet 7 inches and moved in with his uncle from Germany to play high school basketball. Idbihi also played for the 2000 German under-20 national team.

One might wonder how UB's recruiters found this diamond in the rough.

"My German high school coach asked if I wanted to go to college, he put my name on a website with stats and pictures, and then the colleges that were interested were sent videotapes," Idbihi said.

Idbihi has found that there is one glaring difference between his old home in Germany and his new home in Buffalo.

"You can only reach places with a car, everything is far away, and you can't walk anywhere," he said.

If that's the biggest difference Idbihi has encountered after moving across the world, one can only imagine that he is a well-adjusted guy.

In his first full season as part of the UB men's basketball team, Idbihi finished third in conference voting for MAC freshman of the year, and was selected to the MAC all-freshman team, while averaging just over 10 points and just under 6 rebounds a game. Idbihi doesn't take stock in the big differences between American and international styles of play, however.

"It's still basketball," he says.

In his sophomore season, Idbihi has two specific goals.

"Pick up rebounding and play better defense. The team goal is a MAC championship," he noted.

This season, Idbihi's stats are almost identical to those of his freshman campaign, as he is averaging 10 points and five rebounds per game. Though the stats don't show an improvement yet, there have been many signs that Idbihi is well on his way to greatness at UB, turning in a 22-point game early in the season against Indiana State, and a 13-point, 11-rebound game against Colgate.

But the biggest sign that Idbihi may be on to something great is the fact that he has confidence to put up a shot from behind the arc. Idbihi has managed to connect on 11 for 26 from 3-point range, good for 42 percent shooting, second on the team among players with at least 25 attempts.

Idbihi and the Bulls will be in action again Saturday at Eastern Michigan.

Five random questions:

1. What do you do to psych yourself up before a game?

"I listen to music, or watch a tape of the team from a past game."

2. Calvin Cage has a fan group during the games called the "Cage Crazies." What would your group's name be?

"I don't know. How about Idbihi Crazies?"

3. Who's your favorite actress?

"Jennifer Lopez."

4. What is your greatest basketball moment?

"Beating Northern Illinois in last year's playoffs."

5. You speak 6 different languages, what's the best language to romance a girl?

"French. Definitely French."