HAMDEN — The emergence of Quinnipiac junior Ousmane Drame into one of the top post players in mid-major college basketball has been about decisions and commitment more so than refining natural ability. To watch him play is to see nearly the complete package, size and strength mixed with skills that have developed — check that, skills that were attained starting from scratch — only when Drame became interested in the sport at a late age.

"You don't understand," said Cory McCarthy, Drame's coach at New Mission High School in Boston. "This is the kid who was so bad that kids used to make fun of him. It's hard to think about what Ous has accomplished. I'm not much of a smiler, but it brings a smile to my face. He was definitely awkward, the kid nobody believed in."

There were small building blocks, such as a nice left-handed touch. When Drame was in middle school, a security guard would stop what he was doing and watch in awe as Drame, who gave up soccer as a kid in the west African country of Guinea because he hated running, would take jump shot after jump shot in an empty gym.

"And all my shots would go in," Drame said.

Drame epitomized raw. He was a tall, rail-thin kid who had a knack for throwing a basketball through a hoop. He would entertain that security guard, and would rarely lose a game of H-O-R-S-E once other students began to challenge him. But Drame had no idea how to so much as dribble, no grasp of the sport's fundamentals or his own potential. He wasn't even interested until a few years later, when as a sophomore at New Mission, he played organized basketball for the first time.

McCarthy said that other players initially objected to Drame's being on the team.

Now, NBA scouts attend Quinnipiac games to watch Drame play. And if this unlikely progression continues, general managers will have interest in paying Drame to be part of their team.

"This is the fun part about coaching college basketball at this level," said Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore, who in 13 years as an assistant at UConn coached many players who went on to the NBA, some as lottery picks. "At UConn, we'd get such great players who would leave early, oftentimes ahead of the learning curve. You didn't really get the chance to see them fully develop as players and people because sometimes they were gone so quickly."

Controlling The Boards

Drame, 6 feet 9 and 235 pounds, is averaging 12.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and a team-high 2.6 blocks for Quinnipiac, which is 15-8 overall and 10-4 in conference play as a first-year member of the MAAC. He and senior forward Ike Azotam (16.5 points, 11.3 rebounds) are carrying the torch for a long line of top-level frontcourt players in Moore's seven seasons.

Quinnipiac is annually among the national rebounding leaders. Azotam, also from Boston, has been the anchor. He emerged as a sophomore and quickly became one of the top players in the Northeast Conference. Now he is heading toward being named to the All-MAAC first-team. For three years Azotam has been, and continues to be, the Bobcats' best player. Zaid Hearst (15.4 points, 7.7 rebounds) also has been invaluable.

So it would be inaccurate to call the Bobcats Drame's team. But no player has more potential or is rising at the same rate.

"I've just learned to focus more," Drame said. "I felt like I was responsible for a lot of losses. And in feeling like I needed to do more, things began to feel natural — scoring, rebounding, going after the ball relentlessly, blocking shots, playing defense. My mentality changed and my approach changed, and due to that, my work ethic changed."

Drame took off down the stretch of his sophomore year, averaging 13.7 points and 10.8 rebounds in the final 11 games (for season averages of 9.6 and 7.3). This season, the forward has reached new heights. Drame was named MAAC player of the week Jan. 20, posting 15 points, tying a program record with 21 rebounds and setting a program-record with seven blocks against Monmouth. He also had 14 points and 10 rebounds that week against Niagara.

Drame sprained his knee a few days later and missed two games. It's no coincidence that in the first game without Drame, Quinnipiac lost by 22 at Iona and was outrebounded for the first time in 50 games. The Bobcats lead the nation in rebounding margin at plus-12.2 a game.

Quinnipiac has had several players earn lucrative professional contracts in Europe. For now, that remains the likely career path for Drame, but it's early to put a ceiling on his potential. No Quinnipiac player has made the NBA.

"There are probably two more levels in his development that will have to happen," Moore said. "Getting his game to the point where he's having some really loud games, a lot of them, and he just becomes too tough to handle for guys at this level. … And he still has a level of dedication and determination to reach. At the track he's on now, minimally, he's a good European player. If another light goes on or if it starts to burn every single day for him, he could be more."

Warm, Extended Family

Where Drame has been is as interesting as where he is headed.

His mother and father were killed in a car accident when he was 6. Drame was adopted by an aunt and uncle and raised in Conakry, the nation's capital.

"I don't think [the death of my parents] really has had much of an impact on me," Drame said. "I've always had that father figure there, and I always felt like I had parents. I never allowed that to get to me or wondered what life would be like if I had my parents, because I see my aunt and uncle as my parents. I call them Mom and Dad. I introduce them as my parents. They introduce me as their son. I never felt like I had a missing piece in my life."

Drame has a huge family, including four younger siblings (two sisters, two brothers) from his adoptive parents and two older brothers from his biological parents. There are numerous relatives in the United States, including an aunt in Boston.

Drame visited the U.S. about once a year as a kid and moved to Boston when he was 11. At the time, his adoptive father, Abdourahame "Doura" Sano, was heavily involved in national politics and, Drame said, often in hiding amid great political strife and corruption. Sano, who Drame described as a well-educated and well-respected man, remains in Guinea and is again considering a political future, perhaps even running for president.

As this all played out, Drame settled into life in Boston. He was 6-4 as a sophomore at New Mission, 6-7 as a junior, when he played only a handful of minutes a game. He opened eyes as a senior, helping New Mission to a state title and making a key play down the stretch of the championship game.

"He made the last basket off an inbound, dunked with two hands," McCarthy said. "I'm a bald guy. I almost grew hair at that point. This is the kid who stunk so bad. One of the proudest moments I've ever had, and he was crying [afterward]. It was an arrival."

Drame, who had overcome the pain associated with apophysitis, a joint disease affecting the knees, opted for a year at Marianapolis Prep instead of attending a Division III college. He played himself onto Division I recruiting radars on the summer AAU circuit with the Boston Warriors and had numerous offers by the time he was through a strong year at Marianapolis under coach Andrew Vitale. Drame, recruited primarily by Quinnipiac assistant Eric Eaton, chose the Bobcats over Central Connecticut, Robert Morris and Boston University.

"The communication from Ousmane was that there were three or four Big East teams interested, too," said Boston Warriors coach Mark Papas, the first to recommend a year of prep school. "He had a huge tournament down in New Jersey, early July, and to that point just those small colleges were after him. I had told Ous, if you're good enough [Division I schools] will find you. And what happened is, he's good enough."

To uphold tradition, Moore brought the dreaded "box-out drill" to Quinnipiac from UConn. The drill is a series of anything-goes 1-on-1 rebounding battles. A player must get three rebounds in a row to get out, a physical and mental beat-down. Drame was stuck in the workout for 45 minutes during the first practice of his freshman year.

"I would sometimes give up to fatigue or getting yelled at," Drame said. "All of that would have an effect on me. I jumped into [the work involved with Division I basketball], but I wasn't fully committed. I was OK to just be part of the rotation. That's what I embraced and accepted. That was a bad thing, because I should have tried to be more than just a player in the rotation."

Moore said he has a special appreciation for working with Drame.

"I have to bring it every day in coaching Ousmane," Moore said. "I love him as a kid. I love his story, his journey, love the direction his life is going. Where he is and where he is going in relation to where he could have gone when he got dropped here in Boston, it's great. He's a naturally smart, inquisitive kid, has a stubborn streak that is good. He reminds me of Emeka [Okafor] in that way. For two and a half years, he's needed a foot up his butt every day to maximize his potential."