Like many high schoolers, Papa Kante will occasionally stare at his cell phone for long stretches. But he’s usually not messaging friends or scrolling social media. He’s watching basketball games or highlights.
“In his spare time, he’s not messing around, not goofing around,” said Raphael Chillious, Kante’s coach at South Kent (Connecticut) Prep School. “He’s a fun-loving kid, but he wants to be really good.”
He already is, having earned a scholarship to Michigan, where he’ll play for Juwan Howard next season. Kante signed his national letter of intent in November along with Ohio guard George Washington III.
Kante is a 6-foot-10, 225-pound center ranked No. 105 in the 2023 class by the 247Sports composite. Born and raised in Senegal, he came to the United States in 2019, initially enrolling at a high school in upstate New York for his first experience with organized basketball. Chillious said that because Kante arrived after a certain date, he wasn’t allowed to play varsity basketball. And so Kante apparently dominated JV.
After a year there, he transferred to South Kent, a program that has sent 10 players to the NBA and dozens to Division I colleges.
Chillious, who spent 11 years as a college assistant, including stops at Villanova, Connecticut, and Washington, is in his second stint with South Kent. His return coincided with Kante’s arrival, and Chillious has been impressed with the youngster’s development in such a short time.
Chillious highlighted Kante’s defense. He’s an exceptional rebounder and shot blocker and can switch, if needed, to defend guards on the perimeter. Chillious calls him “the fireman” because he’s so good putting out the fire if he has to extinguish a teammate’s mistake.
Kante is already a great communicator on the floor -- he uses English, though he speaks a handful of languages -- which is rare for a high schooler, and he has a 7-foot-4 wingspan.
“His motor is off the charts,” Chillious told MLive in a phone interview last week. “He doesn’t get tired. When I sub him out it’s because I’m trying to get someone else in the game. He’s an absolute machine.”
Offensively, Kante has traits of a modern big man, in that he’s more comfortable facing up than playing with his back to the basket. That’s partly because he watches NBA stars like Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns but also because he grew up playing soccer, where the ball is almost always between the player in possession and the goal.
Kante showcased his full array of skills in a win over The Phelps School at a holiday tournament in New York. (Against a very difficult schedule, South Kent is 18-3 and has won 14 straight.) Against Phelps, Kante ran the floor for easy baskets and dominated on the glass. Chillious said several college coaches in attendance told him some version of, “Man, Michigan got one.”
Kante is getting a taste of what he’ll experience at Michigan at South Kent, a boarding school that is run like a college program. There’s a serious strength and conditioning program. Chefs prepare healthy meals. Chillious said Kante could sit in on a college team’s film study session and, aside from potentially different terminology, understand everything.
Kante appears to possess the intangibles Howard often mentions. “He is one of the most personable human beings you’ll ever meet,” Chillious said. Kante calls one of the dining hall staffers “grandma,” and she in turn calls him “grandson.”
“He’s an absolute warrior on the court,” Chillious said, “but he’s all the way at the other end off the court. He is so lovable.”
When combined with Kante’s basketball potential, it’s no wonder Michigan was interested. The first time Howard saw him play in person, Kante got two early fouls and sat for the rest of the first half (another good pre-Michigan experience). Chillious said Howard was impressed with Kante’s behavior on the bench, how he encouraged his teammates. Then Kante re-entered the game and showed what he could do on the court.
“He has size, broad shoulders and the ideal frame that could have an impact right away,” Howard said in a statement after Kante signed.
Chillious, with his college coaching experience, knows the recruiting game well. He tells his players to pay attention to the head coach’s level of involvement. Howard led Michigan’s recruitment of Kante from the start, Chillious said. One or two other head coaches “were close,” Chillious said, “but not close enough to how hard Juwan recruited him and invested his time to get to know Papa as a person.”
Kante came to basketball late, allowing Chillious to mold him even more than the typical player his age. Chillious has relished that opportunity because Kante is so coachable. “He’s a sponge. He loves the game.” Big men don’t always enjoy doing extra work outside of regular practice time, Chillious said. Kante is always in the gym.
“Anything that makes him better,” Chillious said, “that’s what he’s going to do.”
Ad Choices