City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The trajectory of Ernest Aflakpui’s 2015-16 season changed quite a bit in a two-week span.

It looked like the Archbishop Carroll product would be headed for a medical redshirt after appearing in just five of the team’s first 12 games, playing a total of 24 minutes--12 of which came in the season opener against North Carolina, when sophomore forward Obi Enechionyia was sidelined with an ankle injury.

But given the opportunity spend the rest of the year continuing to recover from a knee injury that cost him his senior year at Carroll, Aflakpui decided--after another MRI came back clean--that he would rather stick it out and contribute for the team, with head coach Fran Dunphy promising he would find minutes in the rotation for the 6-foot-10, 240-pound freshman.

“Ernest changed my mind,” Dunphy said. “He said he didn’t want to do it...he said ‘I want to do as much as I can for this team now.’”

Aflakpui played seven minutes on Jan. 5 against UConn and then didn’t make an appearance four days later against East Carolina, with Dunphy afterwards admitting he needed to find a way to get his big freshman some minutes.

So, trying to find the right combination of chemistry and motivation for some of his upperclassmen, Dunphy inserted Aflakpui into the starting lineup at Memphis on Wednesday, and the big man scored two points in eight minutes of action.

Against Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon, he found himself starting yet again.

“All he asked is work hard and he rewards hard work,” Aflakpui said. “I wasn’t really surprised when he started me, and I knew I had to go in there and do my best.”

The decision to play out his freshman year seems to be a good one for Aflakpui, especially if he keeps playing like he did against the Bearcats, as he set new career highs in minutes played (20) and points (six), grabbing three rebounds and a steal while giving the Owls a much-needed boost against a powerful Cincinnati frontcourt in a 67-65 double-overtime win.

He also did plenty that didn’t show up on the stat sheet: in the opening 10 minutes, he drew two charges, one each on Cinci junior Troy Caupain and senior Octavius Ellis, two of the team’s top four scorers.

“That’s what coach Dunph preaches, they like to attack the glass hard so just give your body up and take a charge, take one for the team,” Aflakpui said, “so that’s what I tried to do.”

Early in the second half, he had his fourth block in the last three games, and followed that up with an offensive rebound and put-back as well as a final bucket on a dump-off from Quenton DeCosey.

There were still plenty of mistakes--a loose ball or two he could have grabbed, some missed defensive assignments--but that’s to be expected for a freshman big man who’s only playing his third year of competitive basketball in the States.

“I think he’s getting more comfortable each and every day,” Dunphy said. “He has no fear and he wants to be out there. I’m very proud of Ern.”  

And while Dunphy is ready to start Aflakpui and let him play as long as he’s productive, he’s not yet ready to trust him at the end of games: Bond, Enechionyia, and juniors Mark Williams and Daniel Dingle played the final 13 minutes of regulation plus both overtimes at the two forward spots.

Of course, how long he stays in that starting spot is up in the air: Aflakpui admitted that "nobody knows" if or when Dunphy will change up the lineup yet again to help a Temple squad that's 9-7 overall (4-2 American) and still struggling with inconsistent play.

"You just have to work hard, and if your number is called you just go play," he said.

But knowing he played a big part in a crucial win for Temple is enough for Aflakpui for now--and the Owls are happy to have him contributing.

“It’s great, I can’t express the feeling but all that matters is the win,” he said. “And we’re excited for the win.”