Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: The Ten Worst Swings Of The 2011 Season

The New York Times Profiles PAA

I can't get enough of stories like this:

“I owe everything to basketball,” Aboya said recently in his native French. “Without basketball, I wouldn’t be here. I probably wouldn’t even have gone to college. And it’s thanksto basketball that I can live out my dreams.”

It began with an envelope that landed on Willard’s desk at Tilton six years ago. At the time the prep school was looking to expand its international student population and was developing an English as a Second Language program. Tilton had never had a student from Africa. Suddenly, here was a file from a student who spoke a couple of languages, none of them English, and who excelled in two sports, one of them basketball.

And there was the photograph to prove it. So Willard took a chance.

Though Aboya had already graduated from high school in Cameroon, he saw a path to an American university education. If it meant two years of prep school first, it was a sacrifice worth making. What Willard got was a tremendous athlete who pushed himself as hard in the classroom as he did on the court. But as quickly as he picked up English, some of the finer points of basketball strategy required more time.

“He was very, very raw,” said Willard, who is now the director of basketball at the University of Wyoming. “So his first year, we made it a rule that he had to stick to the paint.”

By his senior year, Aboya had become a dominant center, attracting attention from colleges like Georgetown and U.C.L.A. And it was on his visit to the West Coast, nine time zones from home, that Aboya made friends with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who grew up minutes away from him in Yaoundé.

And here is a glimpse of how PAA worked to get his degree and emerge as one of the legendary Ben Ball warriors of all time:

As soon as possible, he sat down with his academic adviser to build a schedule to graduate in three years. It was a schedule of study, practice, study, rinse and repeat. It was a work ethic that made him an instant leader in Howland’s eyes. “People asked me if I drank coffee all the time or did other stuff,” Aboya said. “But I told them that when you’re mentally prepared to accomplish something, it’s easier to get through it.”

If his team-mates can match him in his determination and tenacity this tourney season, UCLA will be just fine.

I never thought I would become more attached to another player than AA. But PAA is proving me wrong. One of my favorite Bruins ... ever.

GO BRUINS.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

Comment 8 comments  |  5 recs  | 

Do you like this story?

Comments

Display:

Awesome article.

I would love to see that photo that the article refers to, the one the prep school coach had, not the Final Four one.

by shipphappens on Mar 13, 2009 2:57 AM PDT reply actions  

Yeah

Couldn’t find it anywhere.

by Nestor on Mar 13, 2009 4:22 AM PDT up reply actions  

You mean this one?

http://www.donnlee.com/static/finalfour06/0403/DSC_1196_800.JPG

Have at it.

M

"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008

by Meriones on Mar 13, 2009 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions  

Pic

PAA looks like Jaws jumping out of the water in that pic.

by UCLA4Life on Mar 13, 2009 7:59 PM PDT up reply actions  

Hmm

I was referring to another picture his high school coach was referring to about him dunking in a game in Cameroon (IIRC that’s what the article was referring to I think).

by Nestor on Mar 13, 2009 8:17 PM PDT up reply actions  

If he becomes president, I may have to move to Cameroon

The best thing about being a bruin was being around people like PAA who pushed me to me to be a better person. I’m so happy for him already.

by bruin_2K on Mar 14, 2009 2:07 AM PDT reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Welcome to Bruins Nation, an unofficial daily online scrap book covering the greatest collegiate athletic program in the nation. Established June 16, 2005. GO BRUINS.

Managers

Uclabear1_small Nestor

Arron_afflalo1_small Tydides

Brad_pitt_as_achilles_small Achilles

377011_2642084725867_1068030137_32302525_1166539782_n_small Ryan Rosenblatt

Telemachus_small Telemachus

Licenseplate_small gbruin

2761_small tasser10

Blue_bellerophon_small Bellerophon

Img_0052_2_small Patroclus

Small DCBruins

Of Counsels

094_small Ajax

Menelaus2_small Menelaus

Small Meriones

Small Odysseus

Associates

Eee_small freesia39

Uclabruins_small AHMB