Michigan secured the first commitment of the 2023 class today, as 4-star big Papa Kante verbally pledged to the Wolverines. 

GURU RANKINGS

Rivals	ESPN	247	On3	EM Scouting
4*, #95 overall, #5 C	4*, NR overall, #18 C	4*, #91 overall, #12 C	4*, #32 overall, #4 C	4*, #48 overall, #6 C

While Papa is a universal 4-star, there is some disagreement as to where he falls on the hierarchy. On3 and EM Scouting are the most bullish, as both have Kante as a top-50 overall prospect. Rivals, 247 and ESPN see him as more of backend top-100 type. 

Four of the fives sites have him at 6'10, while ESPN goes with 6’9. List weight ranges between 215 - 225 pounds. Eye test says he's 6'8 - 6'8.5 without shoes and 220 - 225 pounds. 

 

SCOUTING

I've scouted Papa Kante live no less than ten times over the last six months and I'm confident this is a quality long term pickup. Kante doesn't wow you much with highlight plays, but he consistently makes plays that impact winning. 

Papa's best attribute at this stage of development is undoubtedly his defensive versatility and impact. He's very much a switchable defender with good lateral movement that also possesses good defensive instincts and awareness. Kante is an above-average athlete that is rangy, but lacks twitchiness/explosion. As such, he likely projects as a rim protector that alters more shots than he actually blocks. He has good length, but the lack of sheer height mitigates his shotblocking ability to a certain extent. Being a bit undersized, he may be vulnerable when defending true mammoth centers, but he generally does a good job of utilizing his length while being disciplined with his positioning/not biting on fakes. 

Offensively, Papa is coming on as a stretch big that is capable of hitting perimeter shots. During my most recent viewing in July, he hit multiple triples off the catch from both above the break and the corner. He also sprinkled in some midrange jumpers after facing-up from the elbows. The mechanics are solid and there is enough here to be optimistic he continues to develop as a shooter.

He's also shown some flashes of back-to-the-basket scoring. It's a very basic package at this point, with standard back-down + drop-step being his go-to on the block, but it is effective against bigs that are equally sized or smaller. 

Kante is a solid finisher in the dunker spot and is a capable roll-man in PnR. He has good hands, soft touch and catches passes in traffic on a consistent basis. He's a capable lob threat, but he generally needs a running start to be a viable threat on the lob. Papa can struggle at times finishing at the rim in traffic. He doesn't have the sheer size, nor the vertical explosion to convert over the trees on a consistent basis. 

He's impressive as an offensive rebounder, as Kante gives multiple jumps and generally has good ball pursuit. He also runs the floor very well, and transitions from offense to defense/vice-versa quite well. He's a possession magnet that helps you win games in both regards with sheer effort. 

 

Adam Finkelstein of 247 agrees with the burgeoning shooting, but opines that he needs to focus more on being a traditional roll-man/rim-runner type:

"Kante also has good touch and footwork, but becomes less efficient when trying too hard to prove his face-up skill set. He has become a consistent free-throw shooter and isn’t incapable of knocking down an occasional open rhythm three, but too often picks-and-pops instead of rolling hard to the rim, settles for tough-twos in the mid-post area, or stops the ball with too many fakes and pivots trying to create his own shot"

Defensively, I think 247 is shortchanging his agility a bit with their assessment:

"Defensively, he’s physical in the post and fairly mobile hedging ball-screens for a player his size, albeit a true center and not overly switchable."

On3's Jamie Shaw also sees a prospect that is rapidly improving as a shooter:

"His offensive repertoire is also expanding away from the basket. Kante notably worked this summer to become a pick-and-pop threat out to the three-point line. And that aspect gradually improved with optimism. Throughout the summer, on the EYBL Circuit, Kante attempted 1.3 threes per game, and he made roughly 30 percent of those attempts. After finishing the summer making close to 70 percent of his free throws, there is optimism for his development as a shooter."

Shaw is also a bit higher on Papa's prospects for being a switchable defender against ballscreens:

"He is able to hedge a ball screen, turn and get back to his man. He can also disrupt the ball handler on an all-out switch. During EYBL play, the man Kante was gearing shot 31.2 per from the field and only scored on 23.8 percent of the possessions they had the ball."

 

[After THE JUMP: Film, Stats, Projection]

OFFERS

Papa chose Michigan over Maryland, Rutgers, Pitt and Memphis.

HIGH SCHOOL

Kante attends South Kent School in Connecticut. The programs is part of the NESPAC league and is generally loaded with D1 talent and this year is no different. The Cardinals also trot out Kansas commit and former Michigan target Elmarko Jackson, along with D1 prospects Isaiah Watts and Jason Schofield.

STATS

Averaged 10.2ppg, 8.5reb, 1.5blk, 54%% FG and 27.3% from distance on 33 attempts over 26 games for NY Rens during Nike EYBL play over the summer.

VIDEO

EYBL Highlights, July 2022:

2022 Pangos All American Highlights, Surreal Skills:

 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

A very high level summary goes something like this - agile big that will allow Juwan Howard to utilize more aggressive ballscreen coverages with blitz/switch/show + recover approaches without placing teammates in vulnerable spots. Solid shotblocker that will adequately protect the paint while being a plus rebounder that gives multiple efforts. Developing shooter and back-to-the-basket scorer that may be a projectable stretch 5 on low volume as a sophomore/junior. 

As you can see above, Papa is much different than Hunter Dickinson and Tarris Reed. His impact on the game will be more defensive oriented, as he's simply a considerably better athlete in relation to those two while also having good defensive instincts and discipline. 

Kante isn't likely to see heavy playing time as a freshman. It's possible that Hunter Dickinson returns for his senior campaign, at which point spot duty would be the most he would see with Tarris Reed being Dickinson's backup. Should Hunter depart after 2023, you can expect Papa to be Reed's backup that likely gets a relatively short shift each half, barring foul trouble or injury. 

Realistically, we're looking at year two before Papa is a consistent rotational player as a backup. As a sophomore, it's reasonable to project Kante to be an above-average/good defender that is mostly limited to scoring on dumpoffs and putbacks. There should be some occasional flashes of perimeter shotmaking and post-scoring, but he's very much an ancillary option at that point.

Junior year is when we should expect him to be an impact player in the B10. Papa's natural agility + defensive instincts and experience should all come together and allow him to be one of the better defensive bigs in the conference. Offensively, the shooting should be developed to the point where he can be a low-volume shooter in pick-and-pop scenarios. The hope is to be a low 30s guy in terms of percentage while providing some back-to-the-basket scoring to compliment his finishing from dumpoffs and putbacks. 

With a skilled big in Tarris Reed ahead of him on the depth-chart, Kante will have adequate time to develop. And that's a good thing. Papa is the ideal big to compliment Reed defensively in terms of roster balance, while not being so good offensively as to attract NBA GMs.

And that brings us to my next point. Under Juwan Howard, Michigan is going to play the best players, and that means two-big lineups at times. Tarris Reed has the look of very effective offensive player in the B10 as soon as 2023-24, but he doesn't necessarily have the size/length/athleticism to be an ideal NBA prospect. So it wouldn't be surprising to see Reed + Kante lineups if Tarris is still around and Papa is one of the five best players in the rotation. At that point he'd be more PF than C. It may not be optimal in theory, but it's certainly a possibility given Coach Howard's preference for defense + motor. 

Kante is a great addition in that his combo of size + agility really compliments Tarris Reed in a way that allows Juwan Howard to have multiple options depending on the matchup. A fully realized version of Papa might be an all-conference level player depending on what the rest of the roster looks like. Upperclassmen Papa is probably flirting with a stat line of 12ppg, 7reb, 1.5blk and hopefully around 32-33% from distance on 2-3 attempts per game. 

 

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Really difficult to project the rest of the class with 1 scholarship available as of today and uncertainty with Dickinson's stay/go decision, with some potential for Jett Howard to be a one-and-done.

That said, the staff is still in pursuit of SG George Washington. Baye Ndongo is still receiving interest as well and it will be interesting to see if the staff turns up the heat for him. 

With a big in the fold, I'd be fine with filling roster holes via the portal once the season is over barring an instant impact HS prospect becoming available at the guard position.