As the Technical Director of NBA Academy Africa, Roland Houston oversees all aspects of player development and coaching for top high school-age prospects from across the continent. Houston, a multilingual professional with more than 15 years of experience in the sports industry, has extensive coaching experience at the NCAA Division I level. Prior to his current role, Houston was an assistant coach at George Mason University in Virginia and LaSalle University in Pennsylvania, and was also an associate head coach at George Washington University, where he helped lead the team to two Atlantic 10 tournament championships and three consecutive appearances in the NCAA DI men’s basketball tournament. Houston played four years of collegiate basketball at Rhode Island University, where he served as team captain, before playing professionally for 13 years in Spain, Argentina, France and Israel.

Coach Astou N’Diaye was a two-time NAIA first-team All-American at South Nazarene University before going on to play eight seasons in the WNBA for the Detroit Shock, Indiana Fever, Houston Comets and Seattle Storm. Astou was also a member of the Senegalese National Team and competed in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. After her playing career, Coach N’Diaye served on the staff at Utah State University.

As the associate technical director of NBA Academy Africa, Joe Touomou supports the day-to-day development and coaching of top high school-age players from across the continent. Prior to his current role, Touomou worked as a player development coach at the University of Missouri and Florida State University. Prior to that, he worked as an international scout for the Indiana Pacers before joining the Superfund Sports Academy in Austria as the director of player development for basketball. He also served as a basketball expert for the U.S. State Department’s Sports United Program for eight years and served as a coach for the Cameroon Men’s and Women’s National Teams at Afrobasket 2009. Touomou has been involved in the advancement of basketball across Africa for the past 18 years, having traveled to more than 30 countries for development camps and coaches clinics. He has served as a camp director at Basketball Without Borders Africa since the launch of the program in 2003, where he has coached NBA players including Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam and Luc Mbah a Moute. Touomou is the co-founder of Play 2 Lead Foundation, an organization that provides education and leadership opportunities to young Africans through sports. He also supports youth empowerment programs across the continent led by organizations including Giants of Africa, SEED and Adidas Nations Africa. Touomou played collegiate basketball at Georgetown University for Hall of Fame Coach John Thompson and holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Government Studies.