Selton Miguel’s Impact Grows On and Off the Court with New Foundation

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics

Selton Miguel’s impact has exceeded way beyond the basketball court this season.

Earlier this year, when Miguel announced his commitment to the University of Maryland, Terrapin fans knew that he would provide a strong impact on the upcoming season. Early in the season that has been exactly the case, as Miguel has contributed eight points a game through the Terrapins’ three blowout victories to start the year.

However, Miguel’s impact has been felt much further than the Xfinity Center since his transfer announcement. Over the summer Selton, along with his brother Rifen, who also played Division I basketball started up the M3M foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on unlocking the potential of student-athletes across Angola. 

Throughout the summer both Selton and Rifen traveled back to their hometown of Luanda, Angola to kickstart the M3M foundation and inspire the younger generations to follow their dreams. Not even a year after its launch, it’s safe to say that the Miguel brothers are already making massive leaps in its progress. 

“The inspiration was bringing the joy to Africa,” said Rifen. “I think it’s a great opportunity to help others that don’t have the support. Right now we are in a position where we can help people from back home, not even just back home, the whole African continent because there is a lot of talent in Angola.”

Selton and Rifen, who are both real-life models of taking the risk of going to the United States at a young age, want to create a path for these kids to follow.

“Our mission is really to help kids that don’t have the best way of growing up, and we see that we can help them towards that,” said Selton. “The more names we create for our country, the more recognition we get, and the more we can make them try and follow the right path.”  

As someone who has experienced this jump, Selton acknowledges the difficulties and dedication required when talking to the upcoming generation. 

“This life ain’t easy being a D1 athlete or being an athlete in general, there’s a lot of sacrifice, especially for those kids whose parents don’t have a lot of money growing up,” he said. “They have this opportunity to come here because they are talented but it is a lot of sacrifice too because they don’t see their parents. Just like me I didn’t see my parents my whole high school career.”

Rifen shares the message the foundation advocates to the kids, and what they want them to focus on. 

“The message is keep working hard and believe in themselves, and there will be more organizations like us ready to help so they can pursue their dreams, academically, and on the court,” he said. 

A big goal of the M3M foundation is to help the kids on the court and attract more recognition to the talent in Africa but also to prepare these kids for adulthood. Selton and Rifen both take pride in teaching and encouraging the youth to focus on academics. 

“It’s more than just sports, we provide a lifetime experience for these kids and an opportunity to get a degree that holds a lot of weight back home, and be easier for these kids to start their life and help their family. Creating their knowledge, it’s just more than basketball more than sports,” Rifen stated. 

As a prominent figure in Angola, especially in his hometown Luanda, kids look up to Selton as a role model and are inspired by his achievements. When returning home, Selton took the opportunity to not only educate others but to learn from them as well. 

“Learning how to be an athlete, but also being both on and off the court and being able to help people both ways is really what I’m learning,” Selton said. It’s really learning about everybody’s story, and how everyone has a different story. “Talk to them and they talk to me, and just interact. We all talk together, we are a family, just get to know them more because every kid is different and just want to make sure they follow the right path.”

Through all the accomplishments in his life, Selton still strives to remain humble day in and day out. The ability to be a positive influence on the future of Angola is something that he is grateful to have the opportunity to do. 

“Just being living proof of everything is possible that just makes me happy, that they can see that one day they can do that too,” he said. “Just being a kid at the end of the day, just being able to enjoy with them as much as they enjoy with me.”

After making a massive impact off the court over the summer months, Selton has shifted his focus back to the hardwood, looking to take Maryland basketball back to the big dance.

In the previous season, Miguel had a fantastic individual year at the University of South Florida before entering the portal and moving to College Park. Selton was awarded the AAC Sixth Man of the Year award, as well as the conference’s most improved player. If you ask him, awards are not Selton’s main interest for the upcoming season.

“Just really win, the goal is to win,” he said. “Try to make it to the tournament, the goal is to win, the goal is to win the conference, we have a good team to do that. I don’t really see a lot of predictions about players or like team rankings. I just stay in the gym and be ready to hoop, and when we get to the court we’re all gonna see who’s who.” 

Miguel, entering his fifth season, has played over 115 games during his collegiate career providing great experience to the Maryland locker room. Selton is looking to utilize his experience and welcome the role of being a leader for the Terrapins this season.

“For sure, Coach Willard wanted me to come in and be that guy, an experienced guy, I’ve been in college for 4 years, this is my fifth year thanks to COVID,” Miguel said. “Just be that vet that has already played a lot of games and been through a lot, and trying to make them come along and help them as much as I can.”

Prior to the start of the season, Selton was awarded the opportunity to represent the country of Angola in the FIBA qualifiers, where he was able to take in a lot of knowledge from some of his nation’s best players. 

“It was not my first time playing for them, but at the same time it was a humbling experience just to play with those pros, the best players and a couple of guys in the NBA, and just being able to play at that level before I even turn pro, it was a blessing being able to play there, and it was a good experience,” he said. “After a couple of years my coach realized I could do a lot after the season I had, and seeing how the season I had was good, I was getting a lot more freedom, so yeah it was fun,” Selton said with a laugh.

Selton who has helped spark the Terrapins to a 3-0 start to the season will look to continue his impressive play on Friday night for an early season challenge against No. 15 Marquette.