Seven foot basketball recruit headed to the SWAC

Alabama A&M men’s basketball continues to add international flavor to its roster and this time in a big way. Bol Kuir, a 7 foot 3 inch center from South Sudan, announced Tuesday on social media that he’s committed to the Bulldogs. He will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Kuir played last season for Garden City Community College in Kansas. In eleven games he averaged 1.6 points per game and 2.1 rebounds. Coming out of high school in Kentucky in 2022, Kuir originally committed to New Mexico State. He chose the Aggies over his top five schools of Providence, West Virginia, UNLV, Texas Tech and DePaul.

In 2021 Kuir led Belfry High School with 13.8 points per game and a state-leading 13.4 rebounds per game.

The 7 footer never enrolled at New Mexico State and ended up at The University of San Diego where he did not play in any games. In April of 2023 Kuir announced that he was entering the NBA Draft before later withdrawing.

Alabama A&M could be a stable home for Kuir

The journey for Bol Kuir now includes what could be a stop and potentially an extended stay at Alabama A&M.

Alabama A&M reached the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) semifinals for the second straight year this past season. The Bulldogs knocked off the second seed in the tournament, Alcorn State, before falling in the semifinals to third seed Texas Southern.

AAMU head coach Otis Hughley is no stranger to coaching international players. He spent more than a decade coaching in China with the NBA’s China Program. From 2017-2022 he coached the Nigerian Women’s National Team, guiding the 2022 team to the World Cup and a top 12 ranking in the world.

Otis Hughley understands international basketball

Hughley has had tremendous success on the international stage with both men and women, having served more than a decade with the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) China Program.

As part of that initiative he was the associate head coach for the Shandong Bulls Goldstone in 2002-03 and helped lead that franchise to a 31-11 record and a first round playoff appearance that season.

He would return to the international game 12 years later as a consultant to the Xinjiang Flying Tigers and as the head coach of the Chinese Taipei Men’s and Women’s National Teams in 2015-16. That same season he would serve as an assistant coach for the Tianjin Gold Lions in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

In 2017 his international experience would continue to grow to include the women’s game as he was named the head coach of the Nigerian Women’s National Team. In that role he helped lead the program to three Afro-Basket Championships (2017, 2019, 2021), a No. 1 world ranking in Africa, No. 14 in the world and a berth in the 2022 World Cup. The latter made them one of the top 12 teams in the world.

The 2024-25 Alabama A&M roster includes five players that list their hometown as cities outside of the United States.

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