Liz Mills, the new head coach of Ivory Coast's ABC Fighters, says she anticipates having more structural control in her new job than she had when managing Morocco's AS Salé at the Basketball Africa League.
Australian Mills led Moroccan champions Salé to the quarter-finals of the 2022 BAL, where they were beaten by eventual runners-up Petro de Luanda. It was the first time a woman had been in charge of a Moroccan professional sports team.
Mills told ESPN: "That [having full control] was a big selling point for me. When you are working with clubs that have great leadership or successful leadership, they understand what their role as a president or a board is, and they understand what the head coach's role is. That was actually shown to me by a number of teams that I spoke to.
"They had presidents who wanted to stay in their lane and allow me to operate in my lane. That included having control over recruitment and my staff, so that was a very pleasant change from last season."
Mills, who has coached the Kenya men's national team, said that after speaking to various teams, she was ultimately swayed by ABC's triumph at the BAL Elite 16 West Division qualifiers in Abidjan.
"I had heard about ABC previously through FIBA Club Championships. They participated in that tournament throughout the decade that I had been on the continent, so I was aware of them as a team," she said.
"I flew into Abidjan, to watch the West Division Elite 16 or finals. I really wanted to get a feel for some of these teams and see how they played, the benches - seeing how they behaved on the benches and seeing what kind of potential they had.
"Them successfully winning the West Division and obviously qualifying for BAL [made it] an easy decision on which club I would like to coach. The president of their club along with their board members - between both parties, we were able to reach an agreement. I'm really happy to be working with a team like ABC for next season's BAL."
She will not go into her new role unprepared, as she knows veteran shooting guard Stéphane Konaté personally and is familiar with some of ABC's younger players.
Mills explained: "Stéphane Konaté and I obviously have quite a good relationship stemming from AfroBasket, where we both received a FIBA golden basketball and we've been in contact prior to and since me signing for the team. He's an African legend and so it's an honour and a privilege to work with a player of his calibre.
"I know some of the younger players coming up through the team. Mike Fofana, who's an Ivorian-American, is someone who I've kept an eye on and I think it's great that he's coming back and playing for an Ivorian club team.
"They've got a number of talented local players as well. It's the teams that have great local talent that go furthest in the BAL. If we look back at Monastir, Zamalek, Petro and even FAP, they are successful because of their local talent.
"Everybody's got great imports. That's going to be a no-brainer. It's the local talent that separates the good from the great teams at the BAL and ABC, as we know, definitely has great local talent."
In its debut 2021 season, the BAL took place over two weeks in Kigali, Rwanda, while the 2022 competition stretched across three legs over three months in Senegal, Egypt, and Kigali. The 2023 season is set to retain the 2022 format and Mills said she had no objection to that and expected the tournament to keep improving.
"I understand why they're keeping the same format. The first season with COVID, it turned into a tournament style and now we're trying to turn it more into a league. Sometimes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it," she said.
"I think what we saw in Senegal and Egypt did work. I know they're planning to move the dates outside of Ramadan, because that was very difficult in Egypt. It also means for coaches, we can prepare. We know exactly what's coming - especially for the coaches who have been in the league previously. I feel a sense of comfort knowing that I've been there, I've done that and I know what to expect.
"I think every season of the BAL gets better and better, and so for me, I think I'm really looking forward to working with a club that has a great management system in place, so that's your first step.
"When you have good leadership, you're going to be successful - and then, I think, [I'm also looking forward to] being able to work with a team that obviously has worked hard and achieved goals previously; they know what it takes to be successful.
"Judging by how they play, they're definitely more my style. Like Kenyans or Cameroon or Rwanda, these guys work hard and they want to get better. They have a thirst for continuing to take their team to the next level and I think with the local talents plus imports, this team has shown they're capable of competing at a BAL style tournament."