The University at Albany men’s basketball team has announced the hiring of Jaylen Bond, Kian Boroujerdi, and Sanjit Shelukar for the 2024-25 season. Bond will serve as an assistant coach, Boroujerdi will serve as the team’s director of basketball operations, and Shelukar joins as a graduate assistant.
Bond joins the Great Danes after serving two years as a graduate assistant with the Temple men’s basketball program.
“As a coach, there is nothing better than watching a former player grow into a leader,” said head coach Dwayne Killings. “Jaylen brings his experiences as a professional player in Europe and the NBA G League along with his time as a graduate assistant at Temple. Coach Bond has a bright future in this business because of his care for young people, his maturity, and his understanding of what it takes to win after playing for Ricky Barnes at Texas and Fran Dunphy at Temple. We got better the moment Jaylen arrived on campus.”
In 2023-24 with Bond serving as a graduate assistant, Temple became the first team in American Athletic Conference (ACC) history to win four games in four days at the conference tournament resulting in the program’s first appearance in the AAC championship game. TU finished second in program history with 296 made three-pointers and was 31st nationally with just 9.9 turnovers per game. The Owls also came away with 7.4 steals an outing, a jump of more than two per game from the previous season and their highest total since 2018-19.
As a former All-AAC Tournament Team selection for the Owls, Bond averaged 8.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in two years at TU. He ranked in the top-40 nationally in offensive boards in both seasons. Before joining TU, Bond spent two seasons at Texas where he played 54 games and averaged 3.1 points and 4.1 rebounds.
“I’m looking forward to joining the Great Dane family as a part of Coach Killings’ staff,” said Bond. “I’m excited and blessed to have the opportunity to work with the men’s basketball team and I’m highly anticipating achieving new heights and growing together here at UAlbany. Go Great Danes!”
Boroujerdi joins the Great Danes after spending two seasons at Division III University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, where he served as an assistant coach under Jesse DeLoof.
“Kian is a relentless worker and is hungry to impact our program on and off the floor,” said Killings. “He has a true passion for college basketball and for serving young people. We are fortunate to have him join our program.”
As an assistant coach, Boroujerdi had multiple on and off-court responsibilities. Off the court, he created and distributed scouting breakdowns and worked with Coach DeLoof to develop practice plans and game strategies, including substitutions and in-game adjustments. On the court he managed the Panthers’ defensive gameplan, helping Pitt-Bradford bolster its defense in his two seasons in western Pennsylvania.
Before working with Pitt-Bradford, Boroujerdi spent two seasons with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas men’s basketball program where he served as a team manager. At UNLV, Boroujerdi worked under coaches TJ Otszelberger and Kevin Kruger. His job responsibilities included preparing the court, weight room, and dining area for team practices and meals, working with players in individual workouts, and collecting team analytic information. While at UNLV, he completed his master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing.
Boroujerdi attended the University of Texas for his undergraduate study. While enrolled at Texas, Boroujerdi was a practice player for the Longhorn’s women’s basketball program, helping develop skills and team chemistry while also preparing them for upcoming contests.
“I’m extremely grateful to join the UAlbany family,” said Boroujerdi. “I would like to thank Coach Killings for the opportunity to be a part of his prestigious staff.”
Shelukar joins the Great Danes after most recently spending time as a manager at Drexel. As a graduate assistant, Shelukar will assist in all of the day-to-day operations such as video analysis, academic support, and various administrative tasks.
