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Coach’s adopted toddler builds a life with hoops team

In this Jan. 27, 2015, photo, Ngoty, of Senegal, the adopted daughter of Viginia women's basketball coach Joanne Boyle, rests on a basketball as she plays with members of the women's basketball team in Charlottesville, Va. Each trip to Senegal to try and adopt Ngoty entailed an eight-hour flight to Dakar from Washington's Dulles International Airport, then a rugged drive of nearly 300 miles that could take 8-9 hours, or longer on the trips when Boyle and her driver blew a tire or their car overheated in the 120-degree temperatures. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
In this Jan. 27, 2015, photo, Ngoty, of Senegal, the adopted daughter of Viginia women's basketball coach Joanne Boyle, rests on a basketball as she plays with members of the women's basketball team in Charlottesville, Va. Each trip to Senegal to try and adopt Ngoty entailed an eight-hour flight to Dakar from Washington's Dulles International Airport, then a rugged drive of nearly 300 miles that could take 8-9 hours, or longer on the trips when Boyle and her driver blew a tire or their car overheated in the 120-degree temperatures. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) In this Jan. 27, 2015, photo, Ngoty, of Senegal, the adopted daughter of Viginia women's basketball coach Joanne Boyle, rests on a basketball as she plays with members of the women's basketball team in Charlottesville, Va. Each trip to Senegal to try and adopt Ngoty entailed an eight-hour flight to Dakar from Washington's Dulles International Airport, then a rugged drive of nearly 300 miles that could take 8-9 hours, or longer on the trips when Boyle and her driver blew a tire or their car overheated in the 120-degree temperatures. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

By Associated Press 7 min read

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – Joanne Boyle offered a quick prayer before clicking the photo link of a days-old girl in a Senegalese orphanage. Maybe, after so many years of waiting, this would be the child the Virginia women’s basketball coach could bring home.

The fuzzy picture popped up on her laptop. Staring back at her from a world away was a close-up of little Ngoty, blanket around her.

“She had the biggest eyes in the world. Her eyes just stared at me,” Boyle said. “I caught my breath for a second and said, ‘Whatever I need to do to bring this child here, I’m going to do it.'”

Boyle had known for decades that she wanted to adopt a child, yet it would not be easy. She took 12 trips to Senegal over nearly three years, 14 in all. There were always obstacles: a lawyer who didn’t deliver, misplaced paperwork, bureaucratic barriers.

In December, almost at midseason, Boyle got the call. Time to go for Ngoty. At 51, Boyle was going to become a first-time, single mother.