RUNNING THE FLOOR, OR RUNNING THE COUNTRY? UCLA FRESHMAN ABOYA ASPIRES TO BECOME PRESIDENT OF HIS NATIVE CAMEROON.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

Ask any of UCLA freshman center Alfred Aboya's teammates about his demeanor, and each one chuckles.

``He's funny,'' Cedric Bozeman said.

``He cracks you up,'' Jordan Farmar added.

``Man, you should hear him rap - in French,'' Arron Afflalo laughs.

Aboya's reputation with his teammates shows one of his sides, which is far different than the side in pursuit of a lifetime goal.

Aboya is at UCLA because he can play basketball. He came to the United States three years ago for something much more important. He came for the education, because that will land him his dream job - President of his native Cameroon, located in Central Africa.

``The best colleges in the world are in the United States,'' said Aboya, who hails from Yaounde. ``I want to have a political career. People think that being president of Cameroon is a superfluous thing, that I just say it to amuse people. But I really think about it. I want to run the country.''

When that subject is brought up to teammates, the response is similar.

``Ha,'' they say, followed quickly by, ``I would vote for him.''

Aboya said he never met Cameroon's current leader, President Paul Biya, but did attend a speech that served as great motivation. His interest in politics comes largely from his father, Baliaba Aboya Casimir, who worked to draw interest and new members to one of the country's political parties.

``I think he'd be great,'' UCLA teammate and fellow Yaounde native Luc Richard Mbah a Moute said. ``He's got the leadership and determination to run the country. He wants to do good for our country, and for everyone else. You can see it when he plays basketball, how he plays.''

This is not Aboya's latest, greatest career objective, either. His former coach at the Tilton (N.H.) School, Scott Willard, said Aboya talked about leading his country when they first met a few years ago.

``When he first told me, I probably did what everyone else did. I laughed,'' Willard said. ``And then when you get to know the kid, you know it's possible. He'll outwork anyone to get there, and he has a God-given work ethic.''

When Aboya, a 21-year-old freshman center, told his parents, both of whom are retired, he could attend school in the United States for free because of his basketball ability, they were bewildered.

After all, they've never seen him play, and didn't believe he made Cameroon's national team until his father heard it on the radio.

Aboya saw hoops, and not the country's first love, soccer, as his vehicle.

``He's very focused of where he's from, and very proud of where he's from,'' said UCLA assistant Ernie Zeigler, who recruited Aboya. ``He's into being around different people on campus. Some kids come and just want to be around kids that like them. He's about learning from everyone that he can come in touch with.''

Three years ago, Aboya didn't know English. Now, it's one of the four languages he's fluent in.

``He picks up on things so quickly,'' Willard said. ``There was a time when he asked me a question, and I said, 'I was born ready.' He would understand it, and put it into his verbiage in 10 minutes.''

UCLA coach Ben Howland said a German coach dropped by practice last week, and there was Aboya, conversing in German. He is also fluent in French, his native Gunu, and estimates he can speak ``a lot of'' 208 dialects in Cameroon.

In his first quarter at UCLA, Aboya predictably made the honor roll. He is the men's basketball representative to the Bruins Athletic Council, and said he is majoring in international relations.

``I want to learn how people develop countries, solve their problems,''Aboya said. ``I want to see how they run their industry, the social aspect of the citizens. All of that. I want to have a real feel of how to do that.''

Aboya said he ``loves to help'' others, and recent statistics suggest Cameroon needs it.

According to the CIA - The World Factbook Web site, 48 percent of Cameroon's population lives below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate is 30 percent. A predominantly farming country, 70 percent of the labor force works in agriculture.

There also is an excessive mortality rate because of AIDS, and the life expectancy is 51 years.

All this hits close to Aboya. While at the Tilton School last winter, Aboya was summoned home when his brother, Romeo, 25, became ill from tuberculosis.

Romeo recovered, but another brother, Emmanuel, met a tragic fate five years earlier. He was close to Aboya's age, but died of tuberculosis.

``That was a big change in my life,'' Aboya said. ``Back there, we share beds, so I shared a bed with him. We grew up together, talked to each other. So that was brutal.''

Nearly every time Zeigler spoke to Alfred Aboya during the recruiting process, the conversation contained a riddle. Aboya would challenge Zeigler, and expected an answer during the next chat.

``I ended up giving him one,'' Zeigler said. ``It was something like, there was a man who came far across the water, and once he landed, he started to explore and see different things. And he found himself going even further away from where he first landed.''

Aboya solved it easily. The man was traveling from Yaounde, Cameroon, to Westwood.

The unknown is whether the man travels back, to run the country.

Brian Dohn, [phone]

brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Bruins center Alfred Aboya, driving to the basket last weekend against Arizona's Mustafa Shakur, is majoring in international relations.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer