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Having made his initial mark on Fayetteville State a decade ago, Alphonza Kee joined the FSU staff as the head coach in 2009 after serving as an assistant men's basketball coach and recruiting coordinator with Grambling State University in Grambling, LA. In that time, he has quickly gone about the work of rebuilding the Broncos basketball program, taking a team that finished 8-19 in his first season to a 15-14 record in 2010-11. In that second season, not only did Kee instill marked optimism in the program, he guided Fayetteville State to the semifinals of the CIAA Tournament. Kee has brought an infectious, aggressive play-making style to the Broncos. Fayetteville State led the CIAA in steals, forced turnovers and offensive rebounding in 2010-11 and was ranked second in scoring, scoring the third-most points in a single game in a 126-62 victory over Johnson & Wales on Dec. 1, 2010. Kee began his playing career at Lamar Community College in Lamar, Colorado. While at Lamar, Kee excelled as a three-point shooter, and once hit a school record of ten three-pointers in one contest. Following his JUCO career, he signed at Fayetteville State University, where he lettered two seasons under former head coach Rick Duckett. Kee made the first field goal and three-point basket in Capel Arena in 1995 against Francis Marion University. Prior to his time with the Grambling State Tigers, Kee was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator for North Carolina A&T State University from 2003 to 2008 under head coach Jerry Eaves. He also has had coaching experiences at Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC), Winston-Salem State University (Winston-Salem, NC), Chowan College (Murfreesboro, NC) under head coach Bob Burke, and Fayetteville State University. While at Chowan College from 2000-2001, Coach Kee was the head junior varsity coach. Kee also toured with Athletes in Action (playing in the Pro division) in Australia and in New Zealand before returning to America, where he began his coaching career as an assistant under his former coach and mentor, Duckett, at Fayetteville State during the '97-'98 season. Kee earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology from FSU in 1998 and a Master of Science Degree in Adult Education in 2008 from North Carolina A&T State University. He grew up in Northen California, but relocated to North Carolina where he graduated from New Bern High School in 1992. Kee is more than a basketball coach, though. He is dedicated not only to improving his teams on the hardwood, but in the classroom and their communities as well. A mentor to numerous school-age children across the area, Kee believes his community service is his most important goal and ambition. "Young people are impressionable and I have to - I have to - be able to coach them as well," says Kee. Upon returning to his alma mater to coach, Kee quickly went about making connections not just in recruiting circles, but in the Fayetteville community as well. He contacted area schools, including McLauchlin Elementary School, where he teamed with school officials to build a Young Men of Distinction program. The program is a results-based system that emphasizes character development while increasing class performance. Students - and their parents - are required to consent to the program with achieving these lofty goals in mind. Sign on, and Coach Kee will keep an eye on you. But he'll also encourage you, speak with you, take time out with you, and discuss anything you want to discuss. "We talk about real issues," explains Kee. "It's not too young to have a goal. We really have to balance character and integrity because society and the media do not stress that. We really have a big fight on our hands and I'm ready. These young males have to be great and learn to be disciplined, to do the right thing and value education. Then they can lead in our society." It's a life lesson that Kee feels is necessary to ingrain as early as possible - like his mother did for him. But it also works with the Broncos. "It's like our players currently," says Kee. "We want our guys to be productive citizens, leaders, fathers, good citizens. That fight, and that battle for me is a daily battle for me. But I'm very excited to represent Fayetteville State in that way." Throughout the year, Kee speaks at schools, at community organizations and at basketball camps. The connection of basketball and teaching lifelong goals and character traits is clearly obvious to him, even if it's not so at first to the young men he is trying to reach. But basketball gets Kee into the door -- and allows him the opportunity to stay - and teach -- a while. "Basketball gets the attention," says Kee." (Young people) equate that with the fun and the extracurricular, but I can grab their attention and talk about the fundamentals to success. It's a tremendous platform that I use daily. "To see their eyebrows raise and get their attention because we come from basketball is one thing, but to come back and hear tangible improvement from the principal in academic areas, and they say it's a testament to the influence of the program, that's incredible." |
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