From Cameroon to Cats: Arizona gets commitment from 6-foot-10 Christian Koloko

When Cameroon native Christian Koloko was measured at a Basketball Without Borders event in Los Angeles last February, only 170 pounds could be found on his 6-foot-10 frame.

But the new Arizona commit, who announced Sunday on Twitter that he will play for the Wildcats starting in 2019-20, also recorded this: A 7-foot-4 wingspan.

Koloko also had some developing offensive skills, and intelligence that allowed him to post a 3.8-grade point average at Southern California’s Birmingham High School as a junior despite knowing no English entering the school year. Koloko moved from Cameroon to the United States in July 2017.

“Very smart kid and he’s an awesome story,” Southern California-based 247 analyst Josh Gershon said. “He’s a player that has a really high upside. He needs to get stronger but he’s a 6-10 shot-blocker with a natural feel for being a rim protector.

“If you see him in situations where he’s not overpowered by guys who are much stronger than him, you can see the skills he has and he’s adding to them. He’s a pretty good shooter to midrange and a good passer for his position.

“At the worst, he’s a high-level shot blocker. But he could be a lot more.”

Gershon said Koloko struggled at times while playing for the Oakland Soldiers travel team on the prestigious Nike EYBL circuit last summer, which may explain why Koloko is a consensus three-star (100-plus prospect). But 247 has him at No. 81, solidly in four-star range.

“He’s easily a four-star player,” Gershon said. “We’ve done a lot of research on him in terms of evaluating him and knowing his story.

“In an EYBL setting, he does need to get stronger and sometimes that shows on the court. You can’t see what he is. But in a high school setting that’s not a problem. He’s a good kid and a hard worker.”

Koloko didn’t return a message for comment through his sister, but told 247 Sports that he chose Arizona in part because he felt its coaches could help him keep progressing.

“They can develop players and help them accomplish goals,” Koloko told 247 Sports. “That’s why I chose Arizona, because they can help me get to the next level and help me become a man.”

Koloko also said he felt the UA coaches believed in him. He had offers from schools that included Harvard, Cal, Princeton, Vanderbilt and Northwestern but said Arizona recruited him the hardest.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“The thing that stuck out was the head coach, Sean Miller, would call me to talk and he knew my sister and my parents,” Koloko told 247 Sports.

“I came here with my parents, my dad and my mom, they came for the visit and he got to know them.”

Telling 247 that had a feeling he would commit to Arizona, Koloko only set up the one official visit entering the weekend. According to his sister, Stephanie, their parents flew in from Cameroon on Thursday to join Christian on the visit.

It was the next move on a fast track Christian Koloko has followed since he became serious about basketball in Africa. In an interview with the Star last July in Las Vegas, Koloko said he played soccer as a child and then basketball starting at age 12.

With Stephanie having moved to California to get an MBA and work in Southern California, Koloko said he became intrigued with the idea joining her to play basketball nearby.

“My sister was there so she said I can come play and go to school,” Koloko said. “My dad was like ‘OK.’ I want to get better. That’s why I came here.”

While playing in his final event for the Soldiers last July, Koloko said he was still focusing on basketball at that point and not worrying about his recruitment. Even as Doutrive was joining Miller and other UA staffers in encouraging him to become a Wildcat.

“He said Arizona is a good school, it’s a good thing,” Koloko said.

Koloko’s commitment made him the second member of Arizona’s 2019 recruiting class, after five-star guard Nico Mannion committed on Sept. 14.

The Wildcats have four scholarship openings for 2019-20, plus any that could be created by spring movement, as they head toward a critical month of recruiting in October.

Arizona has six key recruiting targets scheduled to visit over the first two weekends of October:

San Diego guard Boogie Ellis, Scottsdale Bella Vista guard Terry Armstrong and junior college forward Khalid Thomas are scheduled to visit for the weekend of Oct. 5, while Mannion and five-star prospects Josh Green and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are scheduled to attend the Oct. 14 Red-Blue Game.