DENVER — A peek behind the curtain on the day between the first and second rounds of the NCAA reveals the life of a graduate assistant.

While select players and BYU head coach Kevin Young attend a formal news conference, the Cougar locker room is open to the media for more personal interviews. Reporters gather around the stars like Richie Saunders and Egor Demin.

Near the door, sitting on chair with a computer in his lap, is former BYU guard Charles Abouo, a first year grad assistant. Several other grad assistants are in similar repose. During his interview, Abouo was multi-tasking. He was watching and logging video of a specific Wisconsin player, information which will be used in the game plan for Saturday’s game.

“As a graduate assistant, you do everything the coaches need you to do,” Abouo said. “You do some scouting, you help with workouts, you rebound for guys. You literally do everything. Some things are high priority that are very important but sometimes it might just be carrying the bags for the team to the plane. You might practice with the team to simulate the great players they will face. That’s one of the parts of this job I take the most pride in, especially while I can still play.”

Earlier this season, a photo emerged on social media of Abouo defending former NBA great Dwayne Wade in an early morning pickup game at the Marriott Center Annex.

“He’s a good dude,” Abouo said of Wade. “I mean, obviously, he’s retired now, but it was cool for him to come and play. It was nice to talk to him. I’m just kind of a backup and I happened to be invited to that run.”

Abouo, originally from the Ivory Coast, played for BYU from 2008 to 2011 and still holds school records for most consecutive games played (141) and most wins (113). Abouo went on to a 12-year pro career playing in Spain and France.

Abouo earned an exercise science degree in his undergrad days and is now enrolled at BYU in the EMBA program. He is at the very beginning of what he hopes is a long coaching career.

“I’ve always worked with kids and mentored younger players on my team,” Abouo said. “I’ve done a lot of volunteer coaching. So I always knew coaching would be a part of my life. I don’t know exactly in what capacity, but this was a great opportunity. I’ve talked to Coach (Kevin) Young and learned a lot from the staff. But I hopefully can bring some of my experience and what I learned about the game, to see what it takes to be a really good coach from the guys who have done it for a long time and at a high level.”

Young said Abouo has been very good in his role as a graduate assistant.

“Charles, he probably one of if not the best GAs in the entire country, just given his experience as a player professionally,” Young said. “But he’s also super unique because he played at BYU. He’s played in this tournament. He was on a really good team and there’s just the way he talks with the players.”

Young said coaching associates in the NBA play a similar role.

“They were ex-players that were basically practice players that wanted to get into coaching and wanted to use their playing experience to get their foot in the door. We’d teach them the video equipment, stuff like that, and they were able to spend time with the players along with the player development staff.

“In college the GA’s have a little more flexibility with how much they can be on the floor with the players. We have a tremendous GA staff, I will say, led by Charles.”

BYU senior guard Trey Stewart added, “It’s been cool having conversations with him (Abouo) and Kyle (Sturdivant), who played at Georgia Tech. Their experience is totally valuable in circumstances like this and very important.”

Abouo was part of the 2011 “Jimmer Mania” at BYU, a strong, powerful defender to compliment Jimmer Fredette’s scoring. That team won two games in Denver to advance to the Sweet 16.

“It was cool coming here and definitely nostalgic,” Abouo said. “It also feels like this is a unique experience with this team. But I do see some similarities with 2011, like how loud the fans were out there in the arena. It’s kind of like a home game. That just gives you another level of energy and excitement to play. I think we saw that yesterday.”

Their biggest fan: Jessica Mullen is the director of academics for men’s and women’s basketball at BYU.

Back on Feb. 1, she became an internet and TV star.

The Cougars were in Orlando playing UCF and the ESPN+ cameras seem to find Mullen at every opportunity, cheering for all she was worth as the Cougars earned an 81-75 victory.

Predictably, Mullen learned of her closeups as friends and family began to send her texts.

“So many texts,” Mullen said. “Every once in a while, someone would be like, ‘Oh, I saw you.’ But then it just got to be more and more and more. And I kid you not, a lady came up to me in the airport as we were on our way down to the Arizona State game. She goes, ‘Excuse me, are you the lady from the UCF game?’ I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ But it’s been fun.”

Mullen obviously travels with the team to make sure the academic parts of being a student-athlete are met.

“We have to get the homework done on the road,” Mullen said. “We’ve got to get our tests done. I’m super grateful to Coach Young for being willing to take me and it’s my job to make sure that we are following all of our NCAA eligibility rules and that all the players are progressing toward graduation. We’re on the road so much, especially in the Big 12, so we have to get all of our schoolwork done.”

Mullen grew up in Provo and played soccer and basketball at Timpview High School. She earned bachelor’s degree in History from BYU and a master’s in Organizational Leadership at Gonzaga.

She said the Built For Life Academic Center on campus plays a big part in helping the athletes keep up with the rigors of a college education.

“Our athletic director, Tom Holmoe, has put so much effort and energy into that,” she said. “We’ve been able to grow this really great support system. We not only have academics but psychology and nutrition, sports medicine, financial aid, so tons of support for our athletes.”

It’s obvious Mullen puts just as much passion into her job as she does being a fan of the basketball team at game time.

“They are so fun,” she said. “These boys are so great and they work so hard. If people could see how much effort they put into it (education), they would probably love them more than they already do.”