June 2, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky.
– Former Dayton assistant coach Adeniyi Amadou (pronounced AD-knee AHM-uh-doo) has been hired as an assistant coach for the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program, UK head coach Matthew Mitchell announced Monday.
Amadou, a native of Paris, France, comes to Kentucky after serving four seasons on the UD coaching staff, where he worked with the post players and also contributed with scouting and recruiting for the Flyers. During his three years, Amadou helped lead the Flyers to 23 or more wins each season and back-to-back regular season Atlantic 10 titles. In 2012-13, Dayton finished with an impressive 28-3 mark before falling to Kentucky, 84-70, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This past season, the Flyers earned their fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth with their highest seeding in school history at No. 6. Dayton finished 23-8 overall after falling to Florida in the opening round. Under Amadou’s guidance, junior forward Ally Malott was named to the A-10 First Team and All-Championship Team.
“We are so thrilled a person of his caliber has joined our staff,” Mitchell said. “He’s a person of great integrity and has incredible work ethic. He’s made an immediate impact on our program and he will continue to make major contributions to UK Hoops. What I’ve been most impressed with is his player acumen. He has great ability to forge relationships and help players get better. When you have a program that has been in the upper echelon and aspires to be the best program in the country, it needs coaches to help players get better and I feel like he’s going to do a great job. He will help us move forward in so many areas.”
Prior to Dayton, Amadou spent the 2009-10 season at Syracuse, helping The Orange to a 25-11 record and a quarterfinal appearance in the Women’s Invitational Tournament. He helped in all areas of the program as he assisted with the strength and conditioning of the players, post player development and scouting, in addition to serving as video coordinator and assistant director of basketball operations.
Amadou started his collegiate career playing for the Black Knights of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He transferred to Indiana University of Pennsylvania and led his team in offensive rebounding his senior year.
He received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from IUP and received a master’s degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse. He is also currently pursuing his Ph.D. in mass communication from the Newhouse School.
“I am humbled to be here at the University of Kentucky and honored to work for Coach Mitchell,” Amadou said. “I think Kentucky is a special, special place. Both the women’s basketball program and the institution in general have developed a culture and an environment that yields a deep sense of community. In Coach Mitchell I have found someone who believes in the core values that have ruled my entire life. I look forward to working with this championship-driven staff and I am thrilled to be a part of the Big Blue Nation.”
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