Anytime a 7-foot-1, 245-pound center lands at a high school program, hyper-lofty expectations tend to spread around campus quick.
Real
quick.
As quick as word of a sparkling homecoming jungle juice pool party
featuring an emcee and a DJ booth and an even a Rolling Rock keg or two.
Thus, it’s fair to say Boya’s arrival opened some
eyes and helped establish a spanking new program looking to solidify the front
court with necessary height and adequate rim protection.
When Aristide “Ari” Boya arrived at The Conrad
Academy (FL) with a surprising feel for the game and a fleet of foot that’s
rare for anyone over 240 pounds, the heightened buzz was generated.
Boya effortlessly crushed home violent, emphatic
dunks with both hands. In adapting to the go-go, souped-up attack that the
guard-laden SIAA conference is known to employ, Boya could go end-to-end and
finish wish ease. By the end of the season, he was dang near putting his head
on the rim in routine, monstrous finishes.
Still, there were visible holes in his game. In
shedding the clichéd tag of “work in progress,” the stoic big needed a tweaking
in several compartments of his still-evolving game.
Hand-and-eye coordination and a back to the basket
game were the key areas requiring a tune-up.
“He’s gotten better at keeping up with the pace of
the game,” explained Conrad assistant Johann Mpondo, the former bruising
6-foot-8 forward at Wright State who has cultivated an interior presence in Boya.
“Catching and finishing are additional areas of
improvement. He needs to be relentless on the glass and at the same time
control the paint with shot blocking. I think in order for him to that
high-major level of player, he needs to be a physical defensive monster.”
The monster reared its head during a thorough 100-29
pummeling of Agape Christian (FL), a game in which Boya started as Austin Wiley
(now at Auburn) rested.
Boya put his full capabilities on display in this less than memorable thrashing,
attacking the rim and finishing amid hard contact and tearing into the
frontcourt with nary a trace of hesitance. Boya banged six dunks in the first half
alone, en route to an astonishing 25-point, 17-board effort.
Boya again showed flashes during a double-digit win
over plenty-tough Potter’s House on Feb. 7.
Taking advantage of a thinner
frontline, Boya finished with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting. He was on constant
aerial watch, flushing home hotly-pursued guard Luguentz Dort’s lobs.
This
performance was a true harbinger of what could eventually become of Boya. Remember,
he has two more years to progress and to continue altering, manipulating, and
changing shots of considerably smaller players.
There are two seasons for him
to add on to his pack of post moves and punctuate spurts with explosive,
above-the-rim finishes. He’s just getting his feet wet in the rich waters of
American Prep basketball.
“He knows what’s expected of him,” Mpondo said of
his beyond-his-years prospect.
“Offensively, because of his athleticism and because
of the style of play that’s enforced at his level, he will need to run the
floor 100 percent of the time. He’ll need to try to get rim run finishes or
establish an early post up before the defense gets set.”
Boya left Cameroon for the purpose of finding a more
meaningful role and better opportunities for his basketball career. Coming to
sun-baked Central Florida and experiencing one of the country’s most brutal and
unforgiving conferences was a step in the right direction.
The SIAA is a
national conference, featuring surplus of guards and 6-foot-11 and 7-footers on
nearly every team’s frontcourt.
Boya’s desire to learn the American game was
witnessed from the time he stepped foot in Orlando. He began watching film of
Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’ Neal, the emblem of NBA Hall of Fame centers.
He also studied film on Anthony Davis, learning how to incorporate new big man
moves in his growing bag of tricks.
Now at Calusa Prep in Miami, Boya has worked more on
putting the ball on the deck and becoming a one-dribble, attack the rim threat.
In high school, big men tend to develop later than most in becoming scoring
threats.
Brad Traina, instrumental in helping Boya gain the
strength, speed, and agility components necessary for the SIAA, envisions a sea
of potential in the class of 2019 recruit.
“There are high-major programs out there that would
take him tomorrow,” said Traina, who propelled Boya’s development by enabling
him to incorporate a shallow water jumper into his arsenal.
Still, Boya has a ways to go.
He must develop more of an adeptness at blocking
shots and more of an innate killer instinct to live up to the likes of DeAndre
Ayton, Charles Bassey, and other highly-regarded and multi-faceted bigs.
A thorough, steadfast devotion to his footwork and getting
his reaction speed up to the pace of the American game were essential
ingredients in getting Boya turnt up (to borrow a phrase from the players’
current day vernacular).
The workload and blink-quick adjustment was vital,
especially in preparation for a national schedule featuring top dogs such as The
Rock Academy (FL), Prolific Prep (CA), 2017 Florida state champions Oldsmar
Christian, 22 Feet Academy (S.C.), Potter’s House (FL), and the aforementioned
Ayton’s Hillcrest (Az.) team.
“With Ari, you have an elite rim protector with a
tremendous ability to run the floor,” Traina said. “He possesses explosive
vertical leaping ability. He needs to continue to work on his hands and his
footwork. He’s progressed a long way in the last six months. Down the road, he
could potentially be a top-50 or even a Top-30 junior in the country.”