45  Bienvenu Songondo
	Class: Junior Hometown: Bangui, C. African Republic High School: Laurinburg Institute Height / Weight: 6-10 / 220 Position: Center

2007-08: Bienvenu Songondo and the Wyoming coaching staff are hopeful that this season will be the one that he is healthy enough to make a solid contribution to the Cowboys on the court. A skilled, athletic big man who can run the court, his health has limited his opportunity to show what he is capable of on a basketball court. A great person, who is both a favorite of his teammates and fans, Benny would provide UW with a versatile big man who could play a couple of positions.

2006-07: Songondo was limited his first two seasons at Wyoming, recovering from knee surgery he underwent during his final year of prep school. He finally saw some significant playing time during his sophomore season of 2006-07. Songondo played in 20 games, and averaged 10.0 minutes per game as a sophomore. He started the first two games of his career -- versus BYU and at UNLV -- and played in the last 13 consecutive regular-season games of the season. Songondo enjoyed an outstanding game versus TCU on Jan. 27 in Laramie, scoring a season high 10 points and pulling down a personal best six rebounds. He averaged 1.7 points and 1.2 rebounds per game on the season.

2005-06: Songondo played in eight games his redshirt freshman season -- versus CU-Colorado Springs, Weber State, at UNLV, vs. TCU, vs. BYU, vs. CSU, at San Diego State and at Utah. In the UCCS game, the redshirt freshman scored 14 points on 4 of 6 shooting from the field (.667) and 6 of 9 shooting from the free-throw line (.667). Songondo scored his 14 points against the UCCS Mountain Lions in only 10 minutes of play. He also grabbed one rebound and blocked one shot versus UCCS. Against UNLV on Feb. 4, Songondo grabbed five rebounds in 21 minutes of play. Songondo appeared in six Mountain West Conference games at UNLV, vs. TCU in Laramie, against BYU in Laramie, at home versus Colorado State, at SDSU and at Utah. He entered his redshirt freshman season as healthy as he had been in the past two years. He spent the summer of 2005 playing for his Central African Republic national team in Europe and in the African Championships. He played throughout the summer, and his previously injured knee held up well. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee his final year at Laurinburg Institute in Laurinburg, N.C., forcing him to miss virtually all of that season. He redshirted his first season at Wyoming in 2004-05. Songondo was offered scholarships by Georgetown and USC, in addition to Wyoming.

2004-05: Songondo redshirted. He came to Wyoming with a lot of potential and impressive physical skills, but was still learning the game and improving.

High School/Personal: Songondo was a heavily recruited player in the spring of 2004. In addition to accepting a scholarship offer from Wyoming, Songondo was also offered scholarships by Georgetown and USC where he made official visits. His Laurinburg Institute team was selected as the preseason No. 1 prep school in the nation by TheInsidersHoops website entering the 2003-04 season. While injured for most of the 2003-04 season, Songondo's talents were evident by the schools who recruited him. He played for Chris Chaney at Laurinburg Institute. An outstanding all-around athlete, Songondo played soccer prior to turning his full attention to basketball.

Born June 19, 1984, he is the son of Pauline and Paul Songondo. He is majoring in social science at UW.