Fiery philosophy helps Hoggard girls basketball coach Boubacar Aw reach 200 wins

Hoggard basketball coach Boubacar Aw has spent the last 11 seasons developing one of the Wilmington area's most successful programs, and it all starts with a simple philosophy.

"I see myself as a player first and coach second," Aw said. "As a player, I was very passionate; and as a coach, I am the same way. I don't want the girls to see me standing on the sideline acting like whatever. I want them to see the passion and feed off the passion."

Behind his 6-foot-7 frame and ferocious coaching style is a calm and collected demeanor that keeps his players eagerly coming back each season.

Born in Thies, Senegal, Aw started coaching for Hoggard in 2012. Since then, he's led the lady Vikings to a 224-69 overall record. A East Columbus High School graduate, Aw went on to play at Georgetown University before spending more than a decade playing basketball internationally.

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While he's had unrivaled success, Aw has had his fair share of criticism for being too hard on players, something he says isn't a fair assessment.

"Why should we coach boys hard and not coach girls hard? What's the difference besides gender? They go to class and lift weights and compete, so they're athletes, so I treat them as such.

"We cannot get too sexist by just calling them girls who play basketball. I think sometimes we make that mistake," he said. "I've done a good job making them understand, do not let people call you girls, let them call you athletes because you are here doing whatever boys are doing."

The coach picked up his 200th win earlier this season, pushing his overall record to 224-69 after Tuesday's first-round playoff win.

The lady Vikings (26-2, 14-0 MEC) completed a nearly perfect regular season this winter, finishing with a second consecutive Mideastern Conference tournament championship win. Over the last four seasons, Aw's teams have gone 84-14 and lost just four conference matchups.

The one thing Aw's teams have yet to achieve? A state title.

Starting five seniors, including two of the Mideastern Conference's top five scorers, his squad this winter has a host of talent capable of making a deep run.

"We have to be careful putting too much expectations. We take it step by step. Going into the playoffs, we will take it one game at a time, not looking too far ahead," he said.

Aw isn't sure how much longer he'll continue to coach, but he knows that the passionate philosophy he brings to the game will never waver.

"My job is to prepare them because we have girls who are going to play college basketball next year, and it's going to be a different environment. I am really tough on them. I really get the best out of them, but I love them. I am their biggest cheerleader off the court."

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Hoggard girls basketball coach Boubacar Aw reaches 200 wins