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PROVO - BYU junior Charles Abouo has gained valuable experience in his basketball career, making him an important role-player on the Cougars' successful season.
Abouo played for the Cote d'Ivoire Senior National Team in 2009 where he helped his team finish second at the FIBA Afrobasket. Taking second in the competition gave the team a spot in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Although Abouo enjoyed his time with the national team, he hated traveling with so much uncertainty.
"It was awful," Abouo said. "In college the travel is pretty organized and you get in and out and everything's set. With the national team, everything from the budget to how things were done were really inconsistent. We'd get stuck in the city somewhere because of funds that weren't available yet to the team."
Even though the travel was his least favorite part of being on the national team, Abouo gained valuable playing experience, providing him with important tools while playing with the Cougars.
"Those experiences really help you coming into this season because you never know what you're going to experience," Abouo said. "To make yourself perform at a high level, you almost have to look at yourself as a peer during the game because that's what's going to give you the confidence to perform."
"I think it could be a really special season," Abouo remarked. "The thing I like the most about the team is how hard we practice everyday. Since I've been here I'd say this team has practiced harder than any teams I've been a part of before."
