Following a highly successful coaching career in the high school ranks, Aubin Goporo (pronounced: AW-bin guh-POR-oh) has joined Rick Barnes’ full-time Tennessee basketball staff as Director of Player Development.
His duties with the Vols include serving as a program liaison to the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center, coordinating community outreach and service efforts and serving as a student-athlete mentor for personal and professional development. He also will assist with on-campus recruiting efforts.
“Aubin is a great man—one of the finest individuals I know,” Barnes said. “His influence on the character and development of our young men is going to be significant. He brings global experience and a unique perspective to our staff. This is a great addition to the culture of our program.”
Goporo, who served as the Director of Student-Athlete Development last season at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, spent 15 years at the helm of the boys basketball program at Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, Florida. During his 15 seasons at FAA, Goporo amassed a 355-52 (.872) record while winning four 3A state titles (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007).
His teams claimed the district title in each season during his tenure and made 10 regional final appearances as well as seven trips to the FHSAA Final Four. Goporo was a two-time Space Coast Coach of the Year.
A 1996 graduate from the Florida Institute of Technology, Goporo also served as FAA’s athletic director from 2012-15. In that role, he oversaw 12 varsity and junior-varsity sports programs while managing the fundraising efforts and budgeting for the athletic department.
More than 40 of the players Goporo coached at FAA would go on to sign with Division I schools, including Sasha Kaun (Kansas), Walter Hodge and Will Yeguete (Florida), Rihards Kuksik (Arizona State) and Alvin Cruz and Juan Mendez (Niagara).
Another of Goporo’s former players, Greek forward Ioannis Papapetrou, went on to play the 2012-13 season under Barnes at Texas.
A native of the Central African Republic, Goporo represented his home nation as a member of the national team at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He recently served as the head coach of the Central African Republic national basketball team, leading the team through group play at the 2015 AfroBasket—the continental championship of Africa—in Tunisia.
Last year in the Division I collegiate ranks, Goporo helped the Ragin’ Cajuns to a 21-12 overall record and a berth in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Goporo—who is fluent in three languages (English, French and Sango)—is engaged to Muriel Peraste of Gravelines, France.
-UT Athletics
