This week, Kentucky basketball made the hire of new assistant coach Alfred Aboya official, finally filling that final assistant coaching position that has been open all offseason. When you think about Kentucky's efforts recruiting internationally over the summer, this hire is not surprising at all. Aboya was the head coach of the NBA Academy and Senegal and has so many connections internationally.
That experience and those connections are extremely valuable, and combine that, his accomplishments as a player at UCLA, and how he is seen as a person, the decision was easy for Mark Pope, who went into detail about the hire when he spoke at SEC Media Days on Wednesday down in Birmingham. Aboya's impact has already been felt in his first few week on the job.
"His contacts throughout Africa and Europe with African players are extraordinary," Pope said of Aboya. "He was one of the all-time winningest players at UCLA with the three-straight Final Fours, and that's saying a lot at UCLA. And more importantly than all that, he's one of the best people in the business. It was interesting as we went through this process over the course of the summer, I probably reached out to 15 different people, kind of league-wide. He was an assistant coach in the G League for the (Wisconsin) Herd. I've had people call me back faster about him than they have on any other topic just to give a ringing endorsement of who he is as a human being, and so far in his first few days with us, that certainly is showing to be correct. And he adds another dimension to our staff. It's going to be really important for us long term. He's going to have an immediate impact with our guys on the floor. He's a big. He coaches bigs. He's going to really help with our front line, but also on the recruiting front, on the community front, on the X-and-O's front."
That experience is very valuable in an assistant coach. Connections are becoming more and more important in college basketball. So, what made Mark Pope prioritize the world of international recruiting during this long coaching search?
"We kind of played this out as long as we possibly could, as we see how the NCAA is interpreting professional contracts and eligibility for European players. We haven't got to the end of that road, but certainly it appears like there is still going to be some real runway to at least recruit top young talent in Europe. That's become more apparent. We were nervous in the earlier in the summer that the door might be closed a lot more than we thought it would, but it seems like there's still some space there. So he's going to have a huge impact there. I've spent probably more time as a head coach than any head coach in America in Africa. Spent several visits to Madagascar, Tanzania, Egypt. Actually love that country. I think that there's an immense amount of talent and great people throughout Africa, and the basketball is growing there so fast. It's an exciting space for the basketball community worldwide to continue to explore."
It was clear over the summer that Mark Pope is going to explore any avenues that he can to recruit players and he knows that with the level of talent growing internationally, he's got to take advantage of it, and who better to bring in as a coach than someone with deep-rooted connections there and a very likeable person in Alfred Aboya.
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