“I’m in a dream position,” said Joël Ayayi before trying his luck in the NBA

A perfect season… until the last step. After 31 straight wins, Frenchman Joël Ayayi – brother of international Valériane Ayayi – and his Gonzaga Bulldogs team lost in early April in the NCAA final, the prestigious university basketball championship. Not far from succeeding Joakim Noah, the last French to have registered his name on the prize list, in 2007, the 21-year-old Bordeaux has achieved a full season (12 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.7 average assists), to the point to feel ready to apply for the NBA Draft, next July. Just before announcing this decision, last week, he came back to 20 minutes on his “four unforgettable years in Gonzaga” and the dreams that inhabit him at the dawn of his career.

Looking back now, what feeling prevails after this lost final?

The disappointment is still there, it will take a little more time to digest. Especially the fact of always being on campus, of always being with my teammates, it brings back this memory every time. After, regrets, yes and no. Because we still had a great season, there is nothing to regret when you really think about it, but it is certain that as a competitor, we wonder if we could not have done better in such and such a situation, a better start to the match for example.

Wasn’t this extraordinary series of victories a burden, ultimately, an additional pressure?

For once, we may have felt the pressure of this unbeaten season, it’s true. Some people may have felt it anyway. Personally, it never really touched me, because with the team we had, it was a bit planned, so to speak. We were favorites of all our games, winning them we just did the job, nothing fancy. And there for the first time the two teams were at the same level, and we couldn’t do the job. It only happened once, but at the worst of times.

Getting your name on the NCAA charts and leaving Gonzaga on a title, was that the dream plan, though?

Yes for sure, that would have been the perfect way to end this adventure, and to give my university a title that it has been hoping for for a very long time now. It didn’t happen, but others will give it to him, and then there will be a Frenchman who will quickly put his name on the charts again. There are more and more of them in the NCAA, it is only a postponement.

What prompted you to come and try your luck in the NCAA? Past examples, like Joakim Noah, or is it more a personal journey?

What attracted me was the level of competition, the workload and the challenges that I was going to have to face. It was the best thing for me to do if I then wanted to take the plunge and play in the NBA. It was the closest thing to quality of play, competition, culture. I think I showed that I made the right choice, even though it took a while and it wasn’t a long straight line to success. I will not have an adjustment period. Mine was my first year here [déclaré redshirt, il n’avait pas joué]. When I start in the NBA, I will know the culture, the physical level, lots of little things that will help me. I’ll be a little ahead of all of this.

What particularly marked you when you arrived here?

This is really the level of the athletes you face every day. Their skill, the way they move on the pitch, the speed … It takes a little time to adapt, find your rhythm, and say to yourself “it’s good now I can play with them, because I can. run with them, jump with them, I feel confident ”.

You mentioned your first year without playing. Did you doubt or did you find it normal?

It was one of the challenges I had come for, so I wasn’t going to complain. I told myself that it was time to just get started. I had said enough, I had said enough that this was what I wanted to do, I just had to go, act. I reacted well I think, I continued to work hard, without worrying too much about playing time, the media, what people were saying about me. Every summer I came back to the France team, I was pretty good, it comforted me. My only project was to be better every day, to improve myself, and in Gonzaga I had the opportunity even without being on the pitch. So I am not worried.

What was the hardest part at the beginning, the language, the physical level?

A little bit of everything. Language level, in France I was good in English lessons, I felt confident when I arrived. But in fact you quickly realize that no you’re no good at all (laughs). They speak street English, as we speak street French. You had to learn it, and also the English you use in the field, which is still different. It’s like I had to learn three or four languages, in fact. And then the culture, the food, it was a new world. Physically too, we had to adapt. I was 17, I was frail, I sometimes played against 21-22 year old guys, ultra-physical. It takes time to work all of this. We had to be patient.

Do you have the impression today that you are where you wanted to be when you arrive?

Yes, I gave myself the opportunity to be in a great position today, I think. A dream position. When you look at the number of players in the NCAA, or even around the world, who would like to play even 30 minutes on one of the best college teams in the country, I can consider myself in a good position. I’m ready as a player, and that’s a good feeling, for sure.

We don’t know much about you in France, what kind of player are you?

I am a player who does a bit of everything, I can score, rebound, pass, create. I like to defend, and I am a leader. I really enjoyed being the leader of this team, being able to pull my teammates to the top. I have no problem doing the dirty work, even if it means not being too in the light. I think I could play in any team actually, I have this ability to adapt. When I was in the France team I had to be more of a scorer, and that’s something I love, while this season with Gonzaga I was more into doing things that you can’t see. But if I am given the choice, I prefer to be a scorer and a creator, that’s where I feel best.

College basketball is known for its extraordinary atmospheres. This season behind closed doors has been frustrating …

It is true that it is incredible. Here, people define themselves by the middle School (the university) where they went. Even when they’re old, they keep that inside of them forever, that pride, that love for their school. This is why university sport is so popular, that it attracts audiences. There is always a part of yourself linked to that. This is something that is not found in professional sport. Your identity is the middle School. I played games in American football stadiums, with 70,000 people in your ears. So for sure this season has been frustrating. There is the feeling of having missed unique moments in a lifetime.

How did you experience the confinement, personally, and the fact of not being able to return to France to see the family?

It’s not easy, that’s for sure. You do with it, but sometimes when you’re a little tough, all those little things come back. You just have to take it upon yourself, get used to it all. But it’s hard, like when we went to play Final 4, I couldn’t help but tell myself that my parents should be there. They sacrificed a lot for me, it would have made me so happy if they could see my success here. But it’s the same for everyone, and there are obviously people in a more difficult situation than mine.

Last year, you went to the Draft “to see”. What experience did you get from it?

I loved the process, put your name, get some info, know what the teams think of you, where you have to work. It allows you to be a little more serene about your decision. You play with your life anyway. If you ever get out of the middle School and that you are not drafted, you just have to try to find a place somewhere in the world. It helped me a lot, to know where I was.

How do we live the fact of not controlling where we will end up?

I haven’t experienced it yet but I think this is one of the situations in life where you have to let go. You have no choice. You can control everything you do before on the pitch, what you say to the teams, and then it’s not up to you. The Draft is about ten people in a room, there is your name in a pot, and you just hope that you will be called at some point. It can all happen!

Is there a franchise that you dream of?

I’m looking more for a situation than a team. What interests me is being able to continue to develop myself, in a team that will trust me. Whether it’s first round, second round, I don’t care about the number, it’s really finding a place where I will be comfortable, where I can progress, where the people around me will try to help me, will want to spend time with me.

When you arrive in the NBA as a French, the example to follow is necessarily Tony Parker?

It’s certain. My generation is Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf… Seeing the photos of these three at Insep, it gave us ideas. They are the ones who inspired us. If I am offered today to have the career of TP, obviously I sign. He is a pioneer, he opened all the doors for us. People don’t realize enough of what he has done, how much he is respected here and made a difference for French basketball.

He showed that it was possible to succeed over time, right? Because we also see that it is not because we are drafted that we arrived….

Yes, he’s the first really to have played finals, winning titles, in a historic franchise. It allows a lot of children to say to themselves “it’s possible, don’t give up”. They have a face to display on their wall to inspire themselves, to tell themselves every day that this is where they want to go, that he has done it, so why not them.

With the France team, you won medal at Euro U18 and then at the U19 World Cup. What does this jersey represent for you, who left very young?

The France team is a dream. If someone gives me a call to play it someday, I’ll be happy to answer. What is interesting is that now, when you wear the jersey of the France team, the ambitions are very high. We come back to the Parker generation, who installed the Blues among the best nations. It is necessary to make quarter, semi-final, final. And sometimes when you don’t win it’s seen as a failure, that says a lot about the place of French basketball in the world, thanks to these people.