Like a lot of basketball players around the world, Daniel Batcho can’t even get into his gym to put shots up these days.
“I’m going to the park now,” the French post player said Thursday by phone from Paris, after committing to the Arizona Wildcats.
On the playground, there’s a hoop and a net, at least. But there are no coaches or scouts watching, no planes to fly him to visit suitors, or any of the other usual circumstances that normally surround an 18-year-old with Batcho’s size and basketball skills.
That meant that the 6-foot-10-inch Batcho couldn’t take anything other than virtual looks at Arizona, California, Creighton, Washington State or any of the other colleges that had been recruiting him out of Paris’ well-regarded Centre Federal du Basket-Ball club.
Yet he still managed somehow to forge a tight bond with the Arizona coaching staff, leading to his decision to join the Wildcats for the 2020-21 season.
Batcho said he talked every day with UA associate head coach Jack Murphy and/or head coach Sean Miller, and that the UA coaches showed him video of the facilities while giving him an hourlong tour of campus via FaceTime.
“I think (it was) the confidence they had, believing in me,” Batcho told the Star. “They listened to me every day and they showed they really wanted me and I appreciate it. I feel I’m part of the family.”
The UA says it will offer in-person classes for its foreign students, including basketball player Daniel Batcho.
The son of a 6-foot-2 mother who played for Belarus’ national team and a father with roots in France and the West African country of Benin, Batcho gives the UA a versatile fourth player for its two post spots along with Ira Lee, Christian Koloko and Jordan Brown. He’s a true post player with a developing stretch game who is also known for a high basketball IQ.
“Batcho is a physical player and excellent rebounder who is able to play both power forward and center,” ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony wrote. “He does most of his damage around the basket, where he embraces contact and has a soft touch and reliable hands that allow him to catch everything thrown his way. His team in France ran quite a bit of offense through him, as he is a good passer and decision-maker for a big man.”
In return for lending the Wildcats those skills, Batcho said was looking forward to playing for a “great program” that would help give him more exposure and the chance to test himself in a more up-tempo style of play.
In France, Batcho helped his development by facing older opponents while playing with CFBB on France’s third-tier “national” level. The well-known Parisian club’s alums include Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Ronny Turiaf.
Batcho averaged 8.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in national division play for CFBB and significantly raised his profile against peers last February in the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Belgrade, Serbia.
In that event, Batcho averaged 14.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game while shooting 69.7% from the field and earning tournament MVP honors. He had 24 points and 15 rebounds in CFBB’s loss to U18 Partizan in the championship game.
Not surprisingly, Batcho’s recruitment picked up around that time — and so did interest from European clubs in signing him to a pro contract. Batcho said he couldn’t talk about which clubs were interested but said he realized he wanted instead to test himself in college basketball.
“Since I started the game, since I was 10 or 11, I wondered what I would do — go pro or go to college,” Batcho said. “Every year I was wondering.”
Once he decided to play college ball, the UA pulled ahead pretty clearly. Not only did he speak with coaches regularly, but he also received text messages from fellow international UA recruits Kerr Kriisa and Benn Mathurin while learning about other UA staffers and facilities.
Arizona routinely tells recruits about the credentials and long relationship between athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie and conditioning coach Chris Rounds, which appealed to Batcho after a knee injury cost him the 2018-19 season.
While becoming one of the top players in the European U16 championships in 2018, Batcho broke a kneecap, according to an adviser, and chose to not to rush the recovery by playing at all the following season.
As it turned out, Batcho’s final year at CFBB was cut short, but he said he’s hoping to start a new chapter by arriving whenever possible this summer at Arizona.
The addition of Batcho gives the Wildcats 11 players for 2020-21. Arizona still may add a wing and/or post player. Four of the 11 players have international backgrounds, and three of them — Batcho, Koloko and Mathurin — all speak French.
One of the UA’s top remaining targets, Minnesota wing Kerwin Walton, is expected to announce his college choice on Saturday. He is also considering North Carolina, Creighton and Vanderbilt.
