September 19, 2018,  Basketball  No comments

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Land Questionable Recruit

By Michael Morgan

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers landed the No. 9 overall recruit in college basketball according to RSCI Hoops, after he reclassified from the 2019 class into 2018.

In the 2018-19 season, Charles Bassey and Western Kentucky will be seeking revenge on the Thundering Herd, who beat the Hilltoppers 67-66 in the Conference USA championship last season, says Hilltopper fan Taylor Pennington. “I was mad that they lost by just 1 point last season but I think they’ll be better, thanks to the five-star recruit that we (WKU) got. Look out Marshall,” Pennington said.

Bassey may very well be the key piece for WKU in their pursuit of a Conference USA title. The 6’10”, 220-pound center from Nigeria comes to Western along with his guardian, Hennssy Auriantal, the new assistant coach for the Hilltoppers. Bassey is expected to be an immediate starter and becomes the tallest player on the roster.

Hilltopper Head Coach Rick Stansbury has been recruiting Charles Bassey for nearly 4 years, dating back to his days at Texas A&M he told in an interview with the Courier Journal. WKU was happy to have Auriantal aboard because, “he brings coaching and playing experience at the D-I level in all areas,” Stansbury said. Bassey is already being regarded by some coaches around the conference as the best player in Conference USA, without playing a single game.

Auriantal being hired led to some questions of how this is not an NCAA violation, said by Brian Morgan. “When I was in college, I used to work in the television trucks for broadcasting Marshall games. When they found out that I was being recruited to play baseball at Marshall, I was deemed an illegal recruit by the NCAA,” Morgan said. “A very good player that could choose to go anywhere in the nation to play basketball, picking the same place that his guardian is being hired seems slightly off,” Morgan said.

Hennssy Auriantal was dismissed from his previous position at St. Anthony High School in 2017. His issues began when his nonprofit, Yes ll Success, which is a company that helps international students transition into the country, underwent investigation. Charles Bassey was brought to St. Anthony through this program, as well as 4 others. All 5 of these players were ruled ineligible and resulted in the loss of Auriantal’s job.

Current WKU forward Moustapha Diagne has previous ties to Yes ll Success as well and was under NCAA investigation for his ties to Auriantal, who is actually Diagne’s legal guardian as well.

“I can only hope for Western Kentucky’s sake, that Auriantal does not cause any more trouble that hinders Bassey and Diagne from playing and leading them to a Conference USA title,” said Aaron Ferguson, an amateur sports writer that follows college basketball.

Controversies such as this may lead to unnecessary drama such as that at St. Anthony High School, or a new start for a coach that made a simple mistake says basketball fan, Ethan Chapman. “I think that Bassey has a chance to be a real underdog story given his previous history, and his guardian will be right there by his side,” Chapman said.

The Hilltoppers open their season Nov. 6 at Washington University, and play the Thundering Herd Jan. 12 in Huntington.