Last season was a great one for Amherst fans, but not for all of the school's players. While the Lord Jeffs were on their way to a national championship, Adolphe Coulibaly was on his way back to the Ivory Coast, where his mother died.

In the end, the junior, who started the team's first 10 games, wasn't able to play a role in Amherst's national title run. “After missing a month of my junior season and all of the NESCAC games, there was not a lot of time left,” Coulibaly says, “but I wanted to get back on the court for my mother and also for my teammates. I knew what I was up against, but I also knew that playing basketball would help my healing process.”

He's back for his senior season, with some new playing experiences under his belt and hopes of helping the team return to Salem.

Read about Coulibaly's return to the floor and his offseason as D3hoops.com gets set to count down to tipoff.