Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Former track star leaves legacy of hard work, smiles
1/6/2019 4:00:00 PM | General
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Rain drizzled down as the sunlight began to creep below the view of the giant windows that bestow the "glass house" nickname upon the Murphy Center. UNC-Asheville's women's basketball team stepped off their bus and headed down the tunnel inside the arena to take on Middle Tennessee in the final game at the Murphy Center in 2018.
It was a year in which the arena saw a team clinch Conference USA's No. 1 seed heading into the conference tournament, high school teams raise the coveted gold ball after Tennessee state basketball championships and thousands of young men and women reach their dreams by walking across the graduation stage.
An hour before tipoff, the door on the northern entrance to the arena swung open. A tall man with a patchy beard and freckled face wiped his feet on the giant "MT"-logoed mat. His black Nike hat was pushed to the side, the edge of his brim lined up with the end of his right eyebrow. He pulled his black-and-blue headphones over his ears and began to head down the long corridor one last time.
On this night, it was the end of an era for that man.
Just a kid from Kumasi
Solomon Afful was born on July 28, 1994, in Accra, Ghana. He grew up with his mother, father, two older sisters and two younger brothers in the small Ghanaian town of Kumasi.
His father, Francis, worked hard in construction to help provide for his large family. As Solomon grew older, he joined his father to help provide for the family and give himself and his siblings the opportunity to continue receiving an education.
"Growing up was hard because of some financial issues," Afful said. "My father was able to take (my sisters and I) through high school and both of my brothers are now in junior high. It was hard, but by the grace of God, we made it."
During high school, the quiet kid from Kumasi loved to spend his days on the soccer pitch.
Afful excelled at keeper for Amaniampong Senior High School. The lateral quickness and agility along with the hand-eye coordination he picked up playing handball helped him become one of the top keepers in the area, but in 2012, that all began to change when his coaches told him to give running a try.
"Funny enough, I didn't start running track until my last year in high school," Afful said. "My national team used to call me 'the baby' because they all started running a long time ago, and I started my last year when I was about to graduate from high school."
It didn't take long for the 6-foot-3 17-year-old to find his stride. After winning the 200- and 100-meter sprints at the national level, he was accepted to the Ghanaian Junior National Team. Afful then reached the semifinals of the 200 at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona.
Schools in the United States took notice to the success "The Baby" was having. With the support of his family and his mentor, Professor Francis Dodoo, president of the Ghana Athletics Association, Afful made a trek halfway around the globe to begin his collegiate career at Cloud County Community College in Kansas.
Leaving home
Leaving home for not only another country, but another continent, was the longest stride Afful had taken in his career on the track. But, it was something that was necessary in order for him to continue receiving an education.
Financially, college wasn't in the cards for him without aid. Luckily, Afful earned a scholarship and was afforded the opportunity to continue both his athletic and academic careers.
"Leaving home was the hardest thing ever," Afful said. "I didn't want to leave, because it was just me and my dad helping the whole family. So, if I left, it'd be just my dad. But after speaking with my parents, they said I should go."
Culture shock immediately hit him in the form of ice-cold air the second Afful stepped off the plane on the January day he arrived in Kansas.
"At home, it was 95 degrees, and in Kansas, it was in the negatives," he said.
The cold was the least of Afful's worries. He had to get used to running indoor events for the first time, and devising a new scheme to attack the 200-meter oval in a gym was going to be difficult. Though he won his first indoor race, Afful was so disappointed with his time that he hunched over and began to cry after walking off the track.
Little did he know that his indoor success was about to receive a jumpstart.
Afful joined the Ghanaian National Team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where he ran alongside Jamaican Olympian Nickel Ashmeade in the 100 and had the chance to see Usain Bolt compete in person.
The experience was a game-changer for the young sprinter.
"It was a good experience running with all those big athletes and the challenge that it presented," Afful said. "I spoke with Ashmeade before we ran, and he ended up winning the race. I also spoke with [Olympian] Andre De Grasse from Canada."
Afful returned stateside and went on to set three indoor school records at Cloud County along with a pair of outdoor records. That prompted his former coach, Harry Kitchener, to contact his longtime friend, Dean Hayes, longtime track and cross country coach at MTSU.
Hayes was impressed with what he saw, and the connection led to Afful transferring to Middle Tennessee.
The new beginning
Afful continued having success dashing around the indoor oval at MTSU, winning a conference title as a junior in the 200 with a time of 21 seconds flat. In the spring of 2018, he won his final two races inside the Murphy Center at the MTSU Invitational by running 6.37 seconds in the 55-meter dash and a 21.52 in the 200. He also competed at the 2018 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as a senior, qualifying for the finals in the 100.
Since his arrival in Murfreesboro, it's not just Afful's life on the track that has taken huge turns.
Last year, Afful and his wife, former MTSU teammate Shaina Johnson, welcomed their son, Benjamin, into the world.
"It's funny, because when my wife was giving birth, I really didn't want to be around because I didn't know how it was going to feel," Afful said. "The moment he came out, my entire life changed. Seeing him turned my whole life around."
Still providing
To provide for his family, just like he had in those days back in Kumasi, Afful began working. This time, he got a job as a student-worker in the facilities department at MTSU, taking care of the very same facilities where he once competed.
On Murphy Center's ground floor is the facilities storage office. The old office is home to a variety of different things, ranging from racks upon racks of chairs to locks for equipment and even old shot clocks and baskets. If you look toward the ceiling, a pile of old trophies that used to line the hallways sits with pale light glistening off.
Just as he had many nights before, Afful headed to the storage office to get ready for another game. The job entails setting up all of the booths, making sure seating is all in order, caring for the banners and flags (in the case of Floyd Stadium) and making sure the facility is safe and ready to host a game.
That night not only marked the final game of the year in Murphy Center — it's also Afful's final night to work and watch a game. Because he graduated on Dec. 15, 2018, Afful is no longer allowed to work as a student-worker after the final week of games of 2018.
"My favorite part of the job was getting to experience all of the different sports," Afful said. "We work all of the sports, like football, volleyball, basketball and soccer. I get to watch all of those games and learn and take interest in all of them."
As the teams went out to warm up, Afful took the locks off the folding chairs for the team benches and made sure they were all in order. He then headed up to the top of the gym and set up the extra seating at the top of the main level.
That particular night wasn't quite as hard as setting up for a football game or the three-day process of setting up and tearing down a graduation, but it still required attention to detail. Afful made sure the seats that make up the team benches were so close together you couldn't fit a piece of paper between them. If you got on the ground and shut one eye and looked at the legs to the chairs, you'd only see one leg because they were so perfectly lined up.
He did it all with a smile on his face, just how event foreman Lindell Cox has seen Afful do things since his first day on the job.
"He's always happy," Cox said. "He's always smiling, always in a good mood and never down."
As the event Foreman, Cox guided Afful and the other student-workers. Seeing the smile on Afful's face often brought out a low, bellowing laugh from Cox when they were working together. The Maine native became accustomed to seeing Afful do things that usually require two people, such as picking up a heavy and awkwardly long section of the graduation stage and moving it on his own.
"He's a strong and tall kid and certainly can do some work when he puts his mind to it," Cox said.
As the game got ready to start, Cox headed back to his office and Afful went up into the stands to sit right next to the band. He popped a cable into his phone, turned some music on and slipped the headphones back over his ears as the game tipped off.
The action on the court was plenty music to Afful's ears. The Lady Raiders quickly ran away with a 66-46 win as senior guard A'Queen Hayes tied a career high with 21 first-half points en route to a career-high 31 total points. As a team, Middle Tennessee outscored the Lady Bulldogs 36-14 in the paint and grabbed 13 more rebounds. It was as dominating a performance as Afful had done on the track above the Murphy Center floor.
For one last time, Afful walked down the concrete steps onto the court to lock up the benches and take one last climb to the top of the Murphy Center to break down all of the seats above the main level.
After he was done, he met with Cox at center court to see if anything was left to do.
The two poked fun at each other and shared some laughs, as usual.
"I gotta mess with you now while I still have a chance," Cox chuckled as Afful playfully pushed him.
As the final few fans began to file out into the parking lot, Afful headed into the facilities storage room to end the day. He'll start a new job in the spring at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, where he'll join head track coach Johnathan Sutton's staff as an assistant. It's an opportunity to stay close to the sport he loves and continue taking care of his family.
The kid from Kumasi grabbed his time sheet, filled it in and signed it. He grabbed a bottle of water and headed for the door.
As the lights shut off in the Murphy Center one last time in 2018, he pulled his hood up over his sideways Nike hat and hit play on the screen of his phone with a smile as he pushed open the door to the next leg of his race called life.
It was a year in which the arena saw a team clinch Conference USA's No. 1 seed heading into the conference tournament, high school teams raise the coveted gold ball after Tennessee state basketball championships and thousands of young men and women reach their dreams by walking across the graduation stage.
An hour before tipoff, the door on the northern entrance to the arena swung open. A tall man with a patchy beard and freckled face wiped his feet on the giant "MT"-logoed mat. His black Nike hat was pushed to the side, the edge of his brim lined up with the end of his right eyebrow. He pulled his black-and-blue headphones over his ears and began to head down the long corridor one last time.
On this night, it was the end of an era for that man.
Just a kid from Kumasi
Solomon Afful was born on July 28, 1994, in Accra, Ghana. He grew up with his mother, father, two older sisters and two younger brothers in the small Ghanaian town of Kumasi.
His father, Francis, worked hard in construction to help provide for his large family. As Solomon grew older, he joined his father to help provide for the family and give himself and his siblings the opportunity to continue receiving an education.
"Growing up was hard because of some financial issues," Afful said. "My father was able to take (my sisters and I) through high school and both of my brothers are now in junior high. It was hard, but by the grace of God, we made it."
During high school, the quiet kid from Kumasi loved to spend his days on the soccer pitch.
Afful excelled at keeper for Amaniampong Senior High School. The lateral quickness and agility along with the hand-eye coordination he picked up playing handball helped him become one of the top keepers in the area, but in 2012, that all began to change when his coaches told him to give running a try.
"Funny enough, I didn't start running track until my last year in high school," Afful said. "My national team used to call me 'the baby' because they all started running a long time ago, and I started my last year when I was about to graduate from high school."
It didn't take long for the 6-foot-3 17-year-old to find his stride. After winning the 200- and 100-meter sprints at the national level, he was accepted to the Ghanaian Junior National Team. Afful then reached the semifinals of the 200 at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona.
Schools in the United States took notice to the success "The Baby" was having. With the support of his family and his mentor, Professor Francis Dodoo, president of the Ghana Athletics Association, Afful made a trek halfway around the globe to begin his collegiate career at Cloud County Community College in Kansas.
Leaving home
Leaving home for not only another country, but another continent, was the longest stride Afful had taken in his career on the track. But, it was something that was necessary in order for him to continue receiving an education.
Financially, college wasn't in the cards for him without aid. Luckily, Afful earned a scholarship and was afforded the opportunity to continue both his athletic and academic careers.
"Leaving home was the hardest thing ever," Afful said. "I didn't want to leave, because it was just me and my dad helping the whole family. So, if I left, it'd be just my dad. But after speaking with my parents, they said I should go."
Culture shock immediately hit him in the form of ice-cold air the second Afful stepped off the plane on the January day he arrived in Kansas.
"At home, it was 95 degrees, and in Kansas, it was in the negatives," he said.
The cold was the least of Afful's worries. He had to get used to running indoor events for the first time, and devising a new scheme to attack the 200-meter oval in a gym was going to be difficult. Though he won his first indoor race, Afful was so disappointed with his time that he hunched over and began to cry after walking off the track.
Little did he know that his indoor success was about to receive a jumpstart.
Afful joined the Ghanaian National Team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where he ran alongside Jamaican Olympian Nickel Ashmeade in the 100 and had the chance to see Usain Bolt compete in person.
The experience was a game-changer for the young sprinter.
"It was a good experience running with all those big athletes and the challenge that it presented," Afful said. "I spoke with Ashmeade before we ran, and he ended up winning the race. I also spoke with [Olympian] Andre De Grasse from Canada."
Afful returned stateside and went on to set three indoor school records at Cloud County along with a pair of outdoor records. That prompted his former coach, Harry Kitchener, to contact his longtime friend, Dean Hayes, longtime track and cross country coach at MTSU.
Hayes was impressed with what he saw, and the connection led to Afful transferring to Middle Tennessee.
The new beginning
Afful continued having success dashing around the indoor oval at MTSU, winning a conference title as a junior in the 200 with a time of 21 seconds flat. In the spring of 2018, he won his final two races inside the Murphy Center at the MTSU Invitational by running 6.37 seconds in the 55-meter dash and a 21.52 in the 200. He also competed at the 2018 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as a senior, qualifying for the finals in the 100.
Since his arrival in Murfreesboro, it's not just Afful's life on the track that has taken huge turns.
Last year, Afful and his wife, former MTSU teammate Shaina Johnson, welcomed their son, Benjamin, into the world.
"It's funny, because when my wife was giving birth, I really didn't want to be around because I didn't know how it was going to feel," Afful said. "The moment he came out, my entire life changed. Seeing him turned my whole life around."
Still providing
To provide for his family, just like he had in those days back in Kumasi, Afful began working. This time, he got a job as a student-worker in the facilities department at MTSU, taking care of the very same facilities where he once competed.
On Murphy Center's ground floor is the facilities storage office. The old office is home to a variety of different things, ranging from racks upon racks of chairs to locks for equipment and even old shot clocks and baskets. If you look toward the ceiling, a pile of old trophies that used to line the hallways sits with pale light glistening off.
Just as he had many nights before, Afful headed to the storage office to get ready for another game. The job entails setting up all of the booths, making sure seating is all in order, caring for the banners and flags (in the case of Floyd Stadium) and making sure the facility is safe and ready to host a game.
That night not only marked the final game of the year in Murphy Center — it's also Afful's final night to work and watch a game. Because he graduated on Dec. 15, 2018, Afful is no longer allowed to work as a student-worker after the final week of games of 2018.
"My favorite part of the job was getting to experience all of the different sports," Afful said. "We work all of the sports, like football, volleyball, basketball and soccer. I get to watch all of those games and learn and take interest in all of them."
As the teams went out to warm up, Afful took the locks off the folding chairs for the team benches and made sure they were all in order. He then headed up to the top of the gym and set up the extra seating at the top of the main level.
That particular night wasn't quite as hard as setting up for a football game or the three-day process of setting up and tearing down a graduation, but it still required attention to detail. Afful made sure the seats that make up the team benches were so close together you couldn't fit a piece of paper between them. If you got on the ground and shut one eye and looked at the legs to the chairs, you'd only see one leg because they were so perfectly lined up.
He did it all with a smile on his face, just how event foreman Lindell Cox has seen Afful do things since his first day on the job.
"He's always happy," Cox said. "He's always smiling, always in a good mood and never down."
As the event Foreman, Cox guided Afful and the other student-workers. Seeing the smile on Afful's face often brought out a low, bellowing laugh from Cox when they were working together. The Maine native became accustomed to seeing Afful do things that usually require two people, such as picking up a heavy and awkwardly long section of the graduation stage and moving it on his own.
"He's a strong and tall kid and certainly can do some work when he puts his mind to it," Cox said.
As the game got ready to start, Cox headed back to his office and Afful went up into the stands to sit right next to the band. He popped a cable into his phone, turned some music on and slipped the headphones back over his ears as the game tipped off.
The action on the court was plenty music to Afful's ears. The Lady Raiders quickly ran away with a 66-46 win as senior guard A'Queen Hayes tied a career high with 21 first-half points en route to a career-high 31 total points. As a team, Middle Tennessee outscored the Lady Bulldogs 36-14 in the paint and grabbed 13 more rebounds. It was as dominating a performance as Afful had done on the track above the Murphy Center floor.
For one last time, Afful walked down the concrete steps onto the court to lock up the benches and take one last climb to the top of the Murphy Center to break down all of the seats above the main level.
After he was done, he met with Cox at center court to see if anything was left to do.
The two poked fun at each other and shared some laughs, as usual.
"I gotta mess with you now while I still have a chance," Cox chuckled as Afful playfully pushed him.
As the final few fans began to file out into the parking lot, Afful headed into the facilities storage room to end the day. He'll start a new job in the spring at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, where he'll join head track coach Johnathan Sutton's staff as an assistant. It's an opportunity to stay close to the sport he loves and continue taking care of his family.
The kid from Kumasi grabbed his time sheet, filled it in and signed it. He grabbed a bottle of water and headed for the door.
As the lights shut off in the Murphy Center one last time in 2018, he pulled his hood up over his sideways Nike hat and hit play on the screen of his phone with a smile as he pushed open the door to the next leg of his race called life.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Men's Cross Country and Track & Field
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