Temple University Athletics
Photo by: Ken Inness/ZUMA Press
From Ghana With Love: Aflakpui’s Journey to Temple Has Been One to Treasure
3.7.19 | Men's Basketball
The college basketball season stretches throughout the winter, and in Philadelphia, the winter weather is unpredictable.
Ernest Aflakpui is used to it now, though, as he has been in Philadelphia since 2014. The Temple senior center is playing his final season for the Owls while also completing his work on a bachelor's degree in marketing. As his final season with Temple continues through the cold winter, Aflakpui's hometown of Accra, Ghana, sits by the beach, its people soaking in the sun and 80 degree weather. Around this time of year when he was younger, he would have been running around playing something, and not necessarily basketball.
Aflakpui played several sports growing up, like handball and running track. Where the Accra native excelled, though, was with soccer and then later basketball.
"I played soccer my whole life growing up, then transitioned into basketball… believe it or not, I'm really good at soccer," said Aflakpui. "I've got some skills."
Aflakpui knew, though, that it would be hard to play once he started growing. At age 14, he decided to switch to basketball. His journey to Temple started at the NBA Camp in Burkina Faso, and with the help of scout Franck Traore and some convincing of his parents, he came to the states to attend Archbishop John Carroll High School in Philadelphia - 5,172 miles away from home.
"That was my first time moving away from my family, and knowing that I'm not going to be around them, around my brothers, around my mom or dad, it was a big jump for me," feared Aflakpui.
"I had a host family, though, and they did a really great job making me feel at home. It started out pretty different, but I adjusted quickly since they had kids too… that made it a lot easier once I got here because the idea of not knowing who you would be around scared me, but after getting here, my host family did a great job. The Finnegans helped me out a lot."
A wonderful upbringing was highlighted when discussing the factors of Aflakpui's character development, and coach Fran Dunphy reiterated that.
"I think the personality that he has was just wel- formed long before he came to Temple," stated Dunphy.
"The people at Carroll and his host family were terrific... It amazes me that the young man is from another culture and country and that we can place kids like him in the middle of Philadelphia, tell them to survive, and they do it."
Temple first reached out to Aflakpui through his high school coach, Paul Romanczuk, when he was a sophomore. He ended up officially signing with the Owls in 2015 as a 3-star center, but after missing his senior season with a torn meniscus in his right knee, his freshman season was in doubt. The question was whether to redshirt or not, and ultimately, Aflakpui decided not to redshirt. In his freshman season, he played in 18 games, starting six of them, and averaged 4.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Each year since then, Aflakpui has made significant strides towards bettering his game. That improvement has been evident throughout his senior campaign, as he has racked up career highs in field goal percentage, points, minutes, and rebounds.
With his larger role on the court and seniority, comes leadership as a team co-captain.
"For me, it's more like doing what you say you're going to do. I try to lead by example because I'm not a big talker. I'll show you something through my actions," stated Aflakpui.
"I go to class, do my work, work as hard as I can on the court, and hopefully the younger guys are listening or watching so they can follow, because talking alone doesn't cut it."
Aflakpui's senior season has been special to him for many reasons: the brotherhood he feels on the Temple basketball team, how they're playing well together, his family coming to see him play as many home games as possible, and especially some career defining plays.
"Favorite in-game moment, that's a tough one," he said.
"I think I'd probably go with this year, the charge against Houston. I'm already known for taking charges, but for that to be the deciding play of the game was great."
That charge, one of over 50 taken in his career, negated a game-tying layup by the Cougars' Corey Davis, Jr. and allowed the Owls to hand nationally-ranked Houston its first loss of the season.
Basketball after graduation is something Aflakpui hopes for, but the value of his education is equally as important to him.
"I definitely want to play wherever the opportunity comes, but even then I'll still be doing internships or working because after basketball I don't want to be done and have nothing else to do with my life," says Aflakpui.
This comes as no surprise as Aflakpui was always thinking forward with his recruitment, always looking past basketball. The hope of getting a good education and having a supportive coach were key reasons for him coming to Temple as well.
"I think I've improved a lot as a human being, first and foremost, because that's the most important thing Coach Dunphy teaches us. He always says that by the time we get out of here, he wants us to be better players but also better people," reflects Aflakpui.
"Coach Dunphy also makes sure all his players graduate, and that's one of the things that I looked at when coming to Temple. I wanted to play for one coach and have that coach help me become a man and push me to do what I have to do to succeed."
Aflakpui is thankful for the time he's spent at Temple, and so is Dunphy.
"Ernest has a great foundation. He comes from a wonderful family and he knew who he was," says Dunphy.
"There wasn't a lot of misunderstanding on what his job was when he came to Temple; it was to do the very best he could at school, do the very best he could on the court, and be the best person he could be and he's certainly done all those things while he's been here."
Ernest Aflakpui is used to it now, though, as he has been in Philadelphia since 2014. The Temple senior center is playing his final season for the Owls while also completing his work on a bachelor's degree in marketing. As his final season with Temple continues through the cold winter, Aflakpui's hometown of Accra, Ghana, sits by the beach, its people soaking in the sun and 80 degree weather. Around this time of year when he was younger, he would have been running around playing something, and not necessarily basketball.
Aflakpui played several sports growing up, like handball and running track. Where the Accra native excelled, though, was with soccer and then later basketball.
"I played soccer my whole life growing up, then transitioned into basketball… believe it or not, I'm really good at soccer," said Aflakpui. "I've got some skills."
Aflakpui knew, though, that it would be hard to play once he started growing. At age 14, he decided to switch to basketball. His journey to Temple started at the NBA Camp in Burkina Faso, and with the help of scout Franck Traore and some convincing of his parents, he came to the states to attend Archbishop John Carroll High School in Philadelphia - 5,172 miles away from home.
"That was my first time moving away from my family, and knowing that I'm not going to be around them, around my brothers, around my mom or dad, it was a big jump for me," feared Aflakpui.
"I had a host family, though, and they did a really great job making me feel at home. It started out pretty different, but I adjusted quickly since they had kids too… that made it a lot easier once I got here because the idea of not knowing who you would be around scared me, but after getting here, my host family did a great job. The Finnegans helped me out a lot."
A wonderful upbringing was highlighted when discussing the factors of Aflakpui's character development, and coach Fran Dunphy reiterated that.
"I think the personality that he has was just wel- formed long before he came to Temple," stated Dunphy.
"The people at Carroll and his host family were terrific... It amazes me that the young man is from another culture and country and that we can place kids like him in the middle of Philadelphia, tell them to survive, and they do it."
Temple first reached out to Aflakpui through his high school coach, Paul Romanczuk, when he was a sophomore. He ended up officially signing with the Owls in 2015 as a 3-star center, but after missing his senior season with a torn meniscus in his right knee, his freshman season was in doubt. The question was whether to redshirt or not, and ultimately, Aflakpui decided not to redshirt. In his freshman season, he played in 18 games, starting six of them, and averaged 4.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Each year since then, Aflakpui has made significant strides towards bettering his game. That improvement has been evident throughout his senior campaign, as he has racked up career highs in field goal percentage, points, minutes, and rebounds.
With his larger role on the court and seniority, comes leadership as a team co-captain.
"For me, it's more like doing what you say you're going to do. I try to lead by example because I'm not a big talker. I'll show you something through my actions," stated Aflakpui.
"I go to class, do my work, work as hard as I can on the court, and hopefully the younger guys are listening or watching so they can follow, because talking alone doesn't cut it."
Aflakpui's senior season has been special to him for many reasons: the brotherhood he feels on the Temple basketball team, how they're playing well together, his family coming to see him play as many home games as possible, and especially some career defining plays.
"Favorite in-game moment, that's a tough one," he said.
"I think I'd probably go with this year, the charge against Houston. I'm already known for taking charges, but for that to be the deciding play of the game was great."
That charge, one of over 50 taken in his career, negated a game-tying layup by the Cougars' Corey Davis, Jr. and allowed the Owls to hand nationally-ranked Houston its first loss of the season.
Basketball after graduation is something Aflakpui hopes for, but the value of his education is equally as important to him.
"I definitely want to play wherever the opportunity comes, but even then I'll still be doing internships or working because after basketball I don't want to be done and have nothing else to do with my life," says Aflakpui.
This comes as no surprise as Aflakpui was always thinking forward with his recruitment, always looking past basketball. The hope of getting a good education and having a supportive coach were key reasons for him coming to Temple as well.
"I think I've improved a lot as a human being, first and foremost, because that's the most important thing Coach Dunphy teaches us. He always says that by the time we get out of here, he wants us to be better players but also better people," reflects Aflakpui.
"Coach Dunphy also makes sure all his players graduate, and that's one of the things that I looked at when coming to Temple. I wanted to play for one coach and have that coach help me become a man and push me to do what I have to do to succeed."
Aflakpui is thankful for the time he's spent at Temple, and so is Dunphy.
"Ernest has a great foundation. He comes from a wonderful family and he knew who he was," says Dunphy.
"There wasn't a lot of misunderstanding on what his job was when he came to Temple; it was to do the very best he could at school, do the very best he could on the court, and be the best person he could be and he's certainly done all those things while he's been here."
Players Mentioned
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