Kentucky has offered point guard Adou Thiero — shown with his father (Almamy), mother (Mariam) and sister (Nadiya). Almamy played for John Calipari at Memphis.
Having John Calipari recruiting his son, Adou, is a bit “unbelievable” for Almamy Thiero.
“It’s a surreal feeling. When he reached out saying he was going to recruit him, it was overwhelming,” Almamy Thiero said.
He played for Calipari at Memphis. He missed his senior season in 2005-06 due to a preseason knee injury and played 15 games at Duquesne as a graduate transfer before blood clots in his lungs ended his career.
His son is a 6-5 guard in Pennsylvania who has emerged as one of the top remaining unsigned players in the 2022 recruiting class. He averaged 23.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 3.9 steals per game this season for Quaker Valley.
Almamy Thiero, the director of College Basketball Prospects of America, said he had stayed in touch with Calipari.
“Mainly texting back and forth a lot, especially at holidays,” Almamy Thiero said. “I would text and he would always text me back. We even went to Kentucky for a couple of camps and my son loved Kentucky and was super happy when he (Calipari) got here. He went to his mom when Coach walked through the door and said he couldn’t believe it.”
Adou Thiero plans to take an official visit to Kentucky soon and his father says his son will be looking for a school where he can help the team that has a coach who will develop him.
“You have to go through the process of asking questions, talking to players and see how things go,” Almamy Thiero said. “If he needs any help, we are here to help guide him. When the time for a decision comes, his mom and I will be here to help. We just have to help him get out and see at least a couple of schools and then figure out what is best for him.”
“He has worked hard for this opportunity. We knew this was coming at some point. He was frustrated when he was smaller and could see the height his mom (his mother, Mariam, was a NAIA standout at Oklahoma City and was a third-round pick of the Washington Mystics in the WNBA in 2006) and dad had but he was still a peanut. He played through it and that will help him at the next level. He had to earn every bucket he got as a small point guard.”
That changed as went from a 5-7 high school point guard to now being 6-5 — yet he kept all the skills he had at the smaller size.
“He is unselfish. He will make the right play. If you are open, you get the ball. He will never take a bad shot,” his father said. “He is a pass-first, score-second guard. If you take his passes away, he will score. He can play outside at 3-point range to midrange all the way to the rim. He is a three-level scorer.”
Adou Thiero is also equally skilled with either hand because his father made sure anything he did right-handed, he also did left-handed.
“From 3 years old on, we did that,” Almamy Thiero said. “Basketball is a two-way game. He can’t be right-handed or left-handed dominant. It’s too easy to guard if you can only go one direction.”
His father also taught Adou he had to do more than score and pass.
“You can’t wait for big men to rebound. You have got to get in there and get your nose dirty,” Almamy Thiero said. “This year he was one of the tallest kids on his team. He had to run point, rebound and defend the rim. He had to be one of the highest shot blocking point guards in the country. He had a triple-double with blocked shots as a point guard. It’s just been amazing to see the growth and different dimensions he’s added to his game.”
Almamy has fond memories of playing for Calipari. He calls him a players-first coach who does care about players.
“Everything he does for his players is high end,” Almamy said. “He knows how to maximize a player’s potential. He doesn’t cut corners in practice, film or game preparation.
“He is a great coach. When Adou was a little man he went to Kentucky (for camps). He knows Kentucky and knows the background and history of the school. It is a really big honor to have a Hall of Fame coach reach out and say come play for me.”
