New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Sky’s the limit
Toure, Notre Dame sophomore with NBA potential, already on UConn’s radar
WEST HAVEN — Abdou Toure glides through the air with ease. He has displayed an array of dunks, including alleyoops and his favorite, the windmill.
It is certainly fun to watch the sophomore from Notre Dame-West Haven, and not just for his ability to throw it down on the opposition. Toure can score on a mid-range jump shot and from the 3point line. He recently scored a career-high 49 points in a single game.
And Toure already has four Division I scholarship offers. Among the Division I programs showing some interest is UConn, the reigning national champions, a school on Toure’s wish list.
Toure is just 16. You know that sports cliche: The sky’s the limit? Toure’s head coach has believed it for some time.
“I told Abdou this last year in the fall (of 2022, before his freshman season began), before he has gotten better and everything else, he is the only guy I’ve ever said this to, that I believe he is going to play in the NBA someday,” said Shea, who coached Tremont Waters for his senior season at Notre Dame. Waters played with the Boston Celtics. “I don’t make that statement to anybody. I’ve had a lot of really good young players come here. I haven’t made that statement once in my life.”
When asked about what Shea said, Toure, a New Haven resident, paused before saying, “I don’t know how to explain it. It was a good feeling. But you also have to keep working. It’s not guaranteed. You have to keep working towards that goal to be able to actually play in the NBA.”
This season, the 6foot-6, 190-pound Toure is averaging 22 points, six rebounds and six assists per game. He has offers from Rutgers, Yale, Sacred Heart and Bryant, all made this past fall, according to Toure and Shea, who said the offers were “all born from high school. Most offers come from AAU.”
UConn associate head coach Kimani Young was in the stands at Shelton High School last week for Notre Dame’s SCC tournament semifinal-round game against Daniel Hand. Fellow UConn assistant Tom Moore attended the SCC final on Wednesday night.
Toure recently made an unofficial visit to the
Storrs campus, which included watching UConn beat Villanova on Feb. 24 at Gampel Pavilion.
“It feels good to have all these opportunities. As a young kid, that was my dream when I was little, to go somewhere where I could support my family and play basketball in front of my family,” Toure said following Notre Dame-West Haven’s SCC championship victory at M&T Bank Arena on the campus of Quinnipiac University.
Shea said Auburn, Louisville and Notre Dame have all shown interest and noted Stanford recently “requested transcripts” on Toure.
“It was exciting to get offers which means my parents don’t have to spend money for me to go to college to get an education and play basketball,” Toure said.
Shea has had someone play for him who has spent time in the NBA: Waters, who was at South Kent before transferring to Notre Dame-West Haven for his senior year. He played in several games during the 2016-17 season that were sold out mainly to see him play. Waters played two seasons at LSU, then was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2019.
Waters played for the Celtics for two seasons, has played briefly for a handful of other NBA teams and also played overseas.
Toure played on the EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League) 15-under team, a Nike-sponsored AAU team last year. Toure said he was invited to the CP3 camp, named after longtime NBA allstar guard Chris Paul, and the Pangos All-American Camp in Las Vegas in June.
He is likely to play for the EYBL 16-under AAU team this summer.
The Spalding Hoophall Classic has already invited Notre Dame into its national event next January, which would be the second time in three seasons.
The team is also going to Poland in early June. It’s part of an educational trip that will include visiting several historical sites, including the Auschwitz concentration camp. It will also include three games against club teams from Europe.
“I’m excited to go outside the country,” said Toure, an honors student.
Toure eventually became a starter on last year’s Notre Dame team alongside Mekhi Conner, Timaury Gay and Tajae Jones which won its second straight SCC championship and advanced to the CIAC Division I semifinals.
Conner and Gay graduated and Jones transferred. With Travis Upchurch and Landon Krygier alongside, Toure has blossomed on the state’s only remaining undefeated team.
“When Abdou first came in the gym, he was really a raw player, really athletic,” Conner said. “We told him to stick with it, to keep working out. He came in every morning, before practice weekends, every day, working on it (his jump shot) consistently. … This summer was going to be a huge jump for him. I told him that, ‘Your sophomore year is going to be your year, your team, you have to go out there and perform.’ He worked really hard and I’m very proud of him.”
He scored a career-high 49 points in February against Wilbur Cross. That set a new school scoring record, previously held by Greg Mangano, who played at Yale.
“I hit a couple shots early and everything felt good from then on,” Toure said.
Toure finished with 21 points, 17 in the second half, to lead Notre Dame to its third straight SCC championship. He was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Drew Roberts, a basketball skills trainer who works with Toure, said he is “literally in the gym every day during the off-season working on heavy ball work and form shooting. You do it enough times, you get comfortable. Once you get comfortable, you add it into the game,” Roberts said.
Toure, whose parents are from Guinea, Africa, now has the mid-range game and is a 3-point threat. That has put him on Division I programs’ radar.
“Abdou realistically was not a Division I player last year because he couldn’t shoot the ball yet. That’s fair, a lot of guys can dunk the ball in Division I at 6-6,” Shea said. “To come from last year to this year and all of a sudden, you walk in the gym and you watch a 6-foot-6 kid who is athletic, strong, (positive) attitude, all of a sudden now a mid-range game looks like a high school Kobe Bryant or (Michael) Jordan.”
Toure said he had heard the comparisons to Bryant before Shea had made it.
Toure is also pretty popular with his teammates. Sometimes, you will likely see him cheering them on — from the bench during the JV game. He even fetches them water during timeouts.
“I did it last year. That’s who I am. I like seeing my teammates play and support them. If they want water, I’m going to get them water.”
Shea noted that Toure has done this completely on his own, He was never asked to do it.
“He’s the one chanting, ‘Defense.’ He’s the one most engaged on the bench. His game starts in an hour and a half, everyone is there to watch him play,” Shea said. “When your leader is doing that and (people) want autographs and take pictures with him after the game. That’s leadership and that sets the tone.”
Shea said he expects Toure’s offers to be in the 10-15 range after the spring live period. The question is will Toure remain at Notre Dame for his remaining two seasons? Toure said he has already heard from prep schools.
“I so want to stay, I really do. When people ask me that, I try not to think about that, I’m trying to think about the season, to try and get through the season. I don’t really want to think about it until I have to think about it,” Toure said.
Shea said that Toure “sets the rules in terms of his future.” He wants him to not only be a multiple all-state selection, but also a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year and become Notre Dame’s alltime leading scorer.
“Abdou loves it here. He has an opportunity set a legacy that’s different than at a prep school,” Shea said. “He is going to have an experience like a Tremont Waters senior year experience. If you don’t have the offers, prep schools become a means to an end. It’s different than when you do.”
Whatever Toure decides to do, he has options. And those will multiply as he develops and improves his game even more.
“Abdou controls his destiny when it comes to his ceiling, which he is going to do if he continues to work,” Roberts said. “He was born with the athleticism. Combine that with his work ethic, his ability to be coached and humility, is a rare combination in this game.”