By Justin Myers
For sophomore Josh Ayeni, being a better player for his team and himself was a major point of emphasis going into the season.
“(I’m focused on) just being the best player that I can be and doing my best for the team, so we can win games,” Ayeni said.
The 6-foot-8 forward is looking to build off his strong freshman campaign where he earned 24 starts and played in all 32 games. He finished sixth on the team in scoring with 6.7 points per game and averaged 2.6 rebounds.
He also scored in double figures 10 times, the most by a Bonaventure freshman in Atlantic-10 play since Andrew Nicholson’s 21 times in 2008-09.
During the off-season Ayeni worked on many things to improve his game.
“I worked on my three-point shot, consistency and just being a better rebounder” he said.
As a freshman, Ayeni worked hard to adjust to the fast pace of Division I basketball.
“I think it’s the pace of going up and down the court,” Ayeni said. “High school ball is slower and college ball is faster and more technical”.
However, one thing Ayeni didn’t have to adjust was his passion.
“I hate to lose,” he said. “I feel like that drives me to play harder every time and try to win”.
Ayeni, a native of Nigeria, grew up in a different environment compared to the United States.
“Obviously the weather is hotter than Olean,” he said. “In Nigeria, when you’re learning to play basketball they only teach big guys how to play basketball. You have to be really tall to play basketball. But in (the United States) you see little kids of all sizes learning to play.”
Ayeni came to the United States in 2011 and hasn’t looked back since.
“There’s some great people here,” Ayeni said. “it’s a great place to be.”
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