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OREM — Utah Valley guard Justin Harmon likes to joke that teammate Aziz Bandaogo is a "freak" and an "alien," though he uses those terms with all the love and affection of a teammate.
He also knows that he'd much rather have that "alien" on his team than playing against him.
Behind the 7-foot center from Senegal by way of Akron, the Wolverines have put together arguably the best season in program history, a program-record 28 wins, and a spot in the semifinals of the NIT at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas — where Utah Valley will face UAB at 7:30 p.m. MDT Tuesday (ESPN2).
"Aziz is a special person," Harmon said. "You kind of get both ends of the stick (with him). He plays defense and he's a lob threat.
"When he's just driving to the basket, it's easy to make a decision: either you throw it up or just go dunk it."
Bandaogo was relatively unknown when he came out of the NBA Academy Africa in his hometown of Dakar, Senegal. The 7-foot center played two seasons at Akron, where he averaged 2.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.
But when Bandaogo hit the transfer portal last year, head coach Mark Madsen reached out. The former Los Angeles Lakers big was one of the first coaches to contact Bandaogo, who entered the portal before Final Four week, and paid a visit to Akron.
When the courtship became serious to bring Bandaogo to Orem, Madsen and assistant coach Todd Okeson traveled to Senegal to visit Bandaogo's family.
The rest, as they say, is history. Except maybe it isn't, because Bandaogo still had a lot of work to do — and even more work to put in before he'd arrive at UVU and start all 34 games while averaging 11.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.
What isn't seen, associate head coach Todd Phillips is quick to add, is the work he puts in — both on and off the court.
"We got him, he came in from Akron and his English wasn't great," Phillips said from Las Vegas. "He had to learn the language; I think he speaks 5-6 languages. But probably the first three months we got to know him, he's in the gym in the morning; he's in the gym for practice; he's in the gym afterwards. Probably a month into the season we went to him and said, 'Get out of the gym; you're killing your body. You're killing yourself.'
"The amount of work that that kid has put in to get to where he has, I think he has a huge ceiling. These guys know it's fun to play with him because you throw the ball anywhere around the basket; and if you throw it badly, it's actually going to be a highlight. It's even better if you throw a bad pass because he'll make it look silly with what he does."
Bandaogo's job, more or less, was to replace the nation's leading rebounder from a year ago, Fardaws Aimaq, who netted 11.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game en route to WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors before transferring to Texas Tech after initially declaring for the NBA draft.
Statistically, he's done that, ranking in the top-10 nationally in both shots and blocks and pouring in 14 double-doubles while anchoring the defense.
With Bandaogo in the lineup — to say nothing of the trio of double-digit scorers in Harmon, Trey Woodbury and Le'Tre Darthard — the Wolverines quietly got even better.
"We've got these guards out here who can go dunk on you, so you have to worry about them," Phillips said. "But if that big comes over, that big is getting dunked on by our big — so they kind of have to pick their poison and. I think the teams really understood that and played to that level this year, and I think that's why you're seeing the success in the NIT Championship that's all clicking right now."
If Utah Valley gets past the Blazers, they may have to try to win an NIT title without their head coach. Madsen did not travel with the team to Las Vegas while his wife Hannah was giving birth to the couple's fourth child.
Practice at @orleansarena! @UVUmbb | #NIT2023 | #NITMBBpic.twitter.com/UsNG0sMSAA
— NITMBB (@NITMBB) March 27, 2023
Phillips filled in for Madsen in Las Vegas, running practice and conducting Monday's pregame media responsibilities. If the baby comes early enough Tuesday, he'll make the trip to Las Vegas, a school spokesman confirmed to KSL.com.
That would likely include the trip for a potential NIT championship Thursday night against the winner of Wisconsin and North Texas. Again, childbirth-pending.
In addition, Madsen reportedly has a contract offer to be the next head coach at California, according to a report that emerged late Sunday night in the San Francisco Chronicle. The 47-year-old former Stanford star is Cal's No. 1 target to replace fired coach Mark Fox after a 3-29 season, according to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein.
Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett has already turned down the Golden Bears, according to several reports.
Would Madsen — a former 10-year NBA veteran and devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — uproot what he's built in Orem for a Power Five opportunity, even at the chief rival of his alma mater Stanford and at one of the hardest jobs in college basketball, with outdated facilities, low travel budgets, and recruiting restrictions stemming from brutal academic requirements?
Madsen also enjoys what he's building at UVU, and with both sets of his children's grandparents living in the Orem area, he saw a sliver of what he's building when the Wolverines beat Cincinnati in front of more than 5,000 fans in the UCCU Center last week.
"We have a phrase that we use in this program: Players make programs," Madsen said after the win. "And we have a locker room full of great players, great students and great people."
