papa kante

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Admissions giveth (Brandyn Hillman) and admissions taketh away. Just as football's newest safety asked out of his letter of intent after an academic "hiccup" derailed his matriculation to Notre Dame, Michigan basketball is losing its 2023 center to enrollment issues.

Kante is an athletic center prospect who wasn't expected to be an impact player for at least a couple of a years. With Hunter Dickinson in the portal, however, Kante was next in line to take on minutes whenever Tarris Reed wasn't on the court. Rumors of an issue with Kante's enrollment started circulating before Dickinson put himself on the market, so it's likely that Michigan has already been in contact with other centers in the portal.

They probably wanted another big anyways, but they're going to need one now, whether that's coming up with the money to keep Dickinson, finding another starter, or at worst recruiting a big who can complement Reed. Transfer forward Tray Jackson played center for Seton Hall, but that was such a bad fit that Jackson's transferring to Michigan.

Michigan's freshman class is now just George Washington III. Guessing that will be a topic down the road.

I made several trips last summer to get a detailed look at 2023 signee Papa Kante. Suiting up for New York Rens in the Nike EYBL league from April - July, this was a great opportunity to see how Kante stacked up against the very best competition in the country. 

**Note - Papa is #5 in white/blue in the clips below**

Finishing

Papa displays the ability to finish with soft touch in traffic. He's a solid release valve/dumpoff option against a scrambling defense that understands how to create advantageous finishing angles. He occasionally flashes the ability to be a lob threat when given adequate space as seen in the first possession of the clip above, but this is not consistently part of his offensive package just yet. 

But I do wish Kante were more violent/explosive at the rim. He's a bit too finesse-oriented with his finishing approach in my opinion. And that can lead to some struggles as seen below. 

The common theme in all of the misses above..........lower body contact on the way up. Obviously that will be mitigated with natural gains via Camp Sanderson, but I can't help but think some of it can be attributed to the sheer lack of force when elevating. The Michigan S+C program plus some increased aggression has the potential to turn him into a really good finisher in a few years given his touch and reliable hands. 

[Hit THE JUMP for the full evaluation]

I made several trips last summer to get a detailed look at 2023 signee Papa Kante. Suiting up for New York Rens in the Nike EYBL league from April - July, this was a great opportunity to see how Kante stacked up against the very best competition in the country. 

**Note - Papa is #5 in white/blue in the clips below**

Switchability/On-Ball Defense

The fact that we're starting off a deep-dive analysis with the on-ball defense of a 6'10 prospect sheds light as to Kante's defensive prowess. I like to initially examine physical facets when projecting on-ball defense and Papa grades out extremely well at the respective position. Kante has superb lateral agility and is able to flip the hips and change direction with ease. His stop and go movement is also an asset, as Papa is able to decelerate/accelerate quite well. Add in good straight line speed and we're taking about a very good athlete that checks all the boxes for a switchable big in the B10.

In terms of technique, the defensive stance immediately pops out. At roughly the :25 second mark in the clip above, Kante gets considerably lower than a 6'7 wing in top-75 overall prospect Eric Dailey. That level of flexibility in tandem with good agility allows him to turn his hips and change direction like a much smaller player because he's never in a flat-footed position. He beat Dailey to the spot twice on that possession after the initial blitz in a good display of athleticism and defensive prowess. 

The very first possession of the clip above sees Papa matched up with former #1 overall prospect G.G. Jackson, who is more of a big wing/PF than guard. On an island 25 feet from the basket, Jackson changes direction and hits the gas in what he anticipates will be an easy foray to the rim against a big. Kante beats him to the spot with ease before swatting the shot attempt. For the more football-centric audience, this the hoops equivalent of an Edge in coverage against a TE............and running the route for him.

Papa projects to be a switchable defender against most teams in the B10, giving Juwan Howard a legit option to blitz and/or switch against ballscreens. While I don't quite expect him to show flashes of shutting down quick-twitch guards like Moussa Diabate, Kante should be able to stay in front of most guards in the B10 for a few dribbles. At minimum, Papa will allow for a blitz + recover approach that provides adequate disruption against pick-and-roll heavy offenses. And while the NY Rens didn't use blitz + recover much on the EYBL circuit, he was extremely impressive in the few instances where that did come to fruition as seen below. 

[Hit THE JUMP for more impact defense]