What Christian Koloko brings to the Toronto Raptors

It is the same now as it was the first day he walked into the Sierra Canyon High School gym. Just like Andre Chevalier did before them, NBA scouts took one look at Christian Koloko, at the 7-foot body and the 7-4 wingspan and started salivating at the potential. It is a fair and reasonable place to operate from. Three years ago, the extremely raw Koloko contributed just 2.3 points per game to the Arizona Wildcats’ offense. Last season, with the help of new head coach Tommy Lloyd, he scored 11.8 points per game.

What the obsession with the future misses is how Koloko was able to get this far in the first place. Potential only takes a person so far; a willingness to chase it makes all the difference. For the Toronto Raptors, who drafted Koloko 33rd, that’s the sweet spot. He is still raw right now, and offensively limited — not surprising for someone who didn’t fully commit himself to basketball until five years ago. He’s hardly the sort of mobile big or offensive stretch that the NBA prefers. In his Arizona career, Koloko took all of five 3-pointers; he didn’t make any.

But driven by a family who pursues excellence and his own insatiable desire to improve, odds are Koloko will figure it out. “Christian wants to be great,’’ Chevalier says. “He’s going to listen. He’s coachable, but also if he can’t do something, he’s going to be mad about it and work on it until he can.’’ That’s essentially how a kid raised on a rickety rim in Cameroon turned into a draft pick.

Koloko grew up playing soccer, but a growth spurt sent him to the basketball court, where he figured out a few moves by watching YouTube videos of Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Durant. Spotted at a Basketball Without Borders camp by Chris Ebersole, the NBA’s associate vice president of international basketball operations — who had the same reaction as Chevalier and NBA scouts: “He was desperately new to the game, rail thin, but so much potential,’’ he says. Koloko’s earnestness caught everyone’s eye. Ebersole could see this was not merely a player looking to use basketball as a means to an end, but someone who wanted to develop into something and someone.

Koloko moved to California, taking up residence with his sister, Stephanie, who emigrated a dozen years earlier to pursue her education. It wasn’t easy for him or for her; he had to learn English and acclimate, she had to mother her baby brother. But they hung in, learning each other’s rhythms. Not wanting to be a bother, Koloko rarely asked for anything, so Stephanie learned to check his room to see what shape his sneakers were in, for example. Stephanie helped her brother transition from Lake Balboa Birmingham High School to the more basketball-competitive Sierra Canyon, where Koloko hoped he’d attract more recruiting offers.

He wound up at Arizona, deep on the depth chart but happy to bide his time. He did not, however, expect it to take quite so long. But the pandemic not only shut down the 2020 season, it robbed Koloko of the summer, an invaluable time when players can work on their games without the interruption of game prep. Mix in a coaching change, and Koloko arrived at his junior season still waiting for people to notice he was even there. Lloyd’s hiring turned out to be the perfect intervention at the ideal time. The former Gonzaga assistant built his reputation — and helped establish the Bulldogs’ rise — by identifying and then developing international talent. He was not put off by Koloko’s still raw abilities, but invigorated by helping him tap his potential.

By the time Koloko met Lloyd, the big man already had a knack on defense (he finished with 86 blocks this year, second-most in school history) but he was still limited offensively. Lloyd and his staff spent the summer digging in on Koloko’s offensive repertoire. They worked on his mid-range game and on his moves in the pick-and-roll, helping him establish more than just his finishing skills. A one-time 43 percent shooter, Koloko evolved to 63 percent this year, despite tripling his shot production. Once a liability at the free-throw line, where he shot just 35 percent as a freshman, he was a serviceable 73 percent this year. “He built my confidence up,’’ Koloko says. “He’s really detail-oriented, so he taught me all the little things to work on that made a huge difference.’’ Koloko averaged just six more minutes per game last season than his sophomore season and yet doubled his scoring average.

It is that colossal growth over a short period of time that has people so intrigued by his pro potential. But it’s what people can’t measure that many believe will ultimately separate Koloko. “He has a hunger and a focus,’’ Ebersole says. “To overcome these really steep trajectories, you need a certain mental approach. Christian has that. That’s not something we instilled in him. He has that seriousness. He wants to get better.’’

(Photo: Scott Wachter / USA Today)