Former Quaker Valley star Adou Thiero, who was the 2022 TribLive HSSN Boys Basketball Player of the Year, is transferring from Kentucky to Arkansas where he will follow former Wildcats coach John Calipari into the Razorbacks’ program.
BBN FAMILY THANK YOU FOR THE LOVE AND SUPPORTS YOU SHOWED TO OUR SON IN LEXINGTON. GOOD LUCK NEXT SEASON..
— Almamy Thiero (@ThieroAlmamy) May 6, 2024
“I started with Coach Cal and want to see it through with him,” Thiero told ESPN.com. “Very excited to join the family and ready to get to work.”
Thiero had several scholarship offers, but his preferred transfer destinations were Pitt, Indiana, North Carolina and Arkansas. Pitt recruited Thiero seriously twice — this year and when he left Quaker Valley two years ago — and he visited campus last month. He also led Quaker Valley to the 2022 WPIAL 4A championship at Petersen Events Center.
Thiero had the option of returning to Kentucky to play for Calipari’s replacement, Mark Pope, but he becomes the fifth player to follow Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas and remain in the SEC.
Thiero, a 6-foot-8, 222-pound forward, may spend only one season with Arkansas. He is ranked No. 27 in ESPN’s 2025 NBA draft rankings.
“He’s known for putting guys in the NBA that also stay in the NBA,” Thiero told ESPN. “And coach Kenny Payne, who is now with him again, was also there for some of those years.
“After already playing for him and developing after two years, I feel that he knows my game and will put me in the right position to succeed and achieve my goals.”
Payne, the former Louisville head coach, was hired as one of Calipari’s assistants last month.
During his senior season at Quaker Valley, Thiero led the Quakers to the PIAA championship game — where they lost to Neumann-Goretti — with per-game averages of 23.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.9 steals and 2.3 blocks.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.