CJ Moore from the Athletic
HOOVER, Ala. — French big man Yohan Traore is still getting used to the American basketball scene. He arrived just 11 months ago, shipped out to basketball factory Prolific Prep for his junior year of high school. He watched his first college basketball in February. He started hearing from college coaches in April. But a sign that he’s become at least partially Americanized in the basketball world was what he did July 9 at the 3SSB Adidas tournament.
It was there he matched against five-star big man Kijani Wright, who is ranked 10th in his class by 247Sports. Rankings would have been foreign to Traore a year ago, but he was very aware Wright was ranked much higher than him — he’s currently No. 72 — and he appeared on a mission to make a point. Minutes into the game, Traore found himself with the ball on the right wing and Wright in a stance in front of him. Traore drove left, then spun around Wright, finishing with a righty scoop at the bucket. Traore would go on to put on a show, scoring 18 points by halftime of an 84-71 win. If he was trying to make a point, it landed.
Asked a day later about his favorite moment during his rise this spring and summer, Traore said, “The game against Compton Magic, because I played against somebody ranked higher than me. I did good.”
If there’s a reason for a midsummer edit of the rankings, it would be Traore. Any college coach who watched him in Alabama will tell you he was the best player at the event, which included five-stars Chris Livingston, Keyonte George and Wright, who are all ranked in the top 10 of their class.
“A dominant force,” one college coach told The Athletic. “There are certain guys that are like three-star, four-star guys, and then you see them for the first time and all of a sudden they move up a star because they give you that wow factor when you see them. I thought Johan did that this past weekend.”
Traore, an unknown to most a few months ago, has made college coaches do a double-take this spring and summer. He arrived at Prolific Prep in mid-August, but he barely played. According to Prolific’s website, he competed in only six games and averaged 2.7 points, saddled behind two five-star bigs (Adem Bona and Nate Bittle, who is headed to Oregon). College coaches started to take notice this spring when he played for the Southern Assault on the Adidas circuit.
What’s unusual about his performance last weekend was it came playing for Dream Vision, a team out of San Diego. He had been playing for Texas-based Southern Assault after moving in February to stay with Jonathan Muipatayi, his distant cousin in Arlington, Texas. But because Traore’s U.S. address is in California, he switched to an in-state team for the July evaluation period. He practiced for just one week with Dream Vision, and then put up the best numbers on the circuit over the weekend, averaging 20.5 points on 63.6 percent shooting over six games. He led the event in dunks (23), and he was the most efficient scorer among players with at least 10 possessions, scoring 1.28 points per possession, according to Synergy Sports.
His athleticism at 6-foot-11 stands out right away. He’s a quick leaper — hence all the dunks — and he really thrived running the floor and scoring out of pick-and-rolls, whether it was short rolls or catching and finishing near the rim. Offensively, he checks all the boxes for a modern big guy and also fits any college team that takes a more old-school approach. He scored in the post over both shoulders. He made hook shots and turnarounds. One of his most impressive moves was a face-up and then step back into an elbow jumper. What makes him such a good screener is he can flip his hips quickly. That also makes him tough in the post as he can quickly spin baseline and dunk before a big man realizes what’s happened.
“Some of these big guys have become dinosaurs, in terms of just like true centers, but he seems like he’s more than that,” the college coach said. “He’s a guy that eventually could be a Bam Adebayo type — if he keeps on improving his skill. Obviously, Bam is a guy that can dribble the ball pretty well, drive it pretty well, doesn’t shoot it great, but Yohan’s got that same body type. Very impressive.”
Traore’s jumper is potentially a weapon as well. He can stretch it out to the 3-point line, and his mechanics look good. That’s a part of his game he hasn’t always had. Grand Canyon forward Yvan Ouedraogo, who was with Traore for two years at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (INSEP) in Paris, said Traore was a wing when he showed up in 2017.
“At that time, he couldn’t really shoot, but he was fast and athletic,” Ouedraogo said. “He could put the ball on the floor.”
On Saturday night at the Homewood Suites in Hoover, Ala., Traore said his ability to put the ball on the floor was something he hasn’t been able to really show off yet. The next day, he flashed it, catching the ball at the top of the key, going to his left and spinning around for a turnaround jumper. Later in the game, he Euro-stepped around a guard trying to stop him in transition and scored at the rim.
Traore has been well-schooled. At 14, he was discovered at a showcase in his hometown of Tours, France, by INSEP coaches. A majority of the best athletes in France end up at INSEP. Tony Parker and Boris Diaw attended the academy. Instead of playing professionally in France like Parker and Diaw did before joining the NBA, Traore decided the best route was to come to a prep school in America.
“I wanted to take my game to the next level, play against the best players in the country,” he said. “I think that’s the best opportunity for me.”
Traore is confident but soft-spoken. He said he had to adjust to American bigs’ aggressiveness, which he’s done when he has the ball in his hands. Also showing ferocity away from the ball is the next step. He averaged just four rebounds per game in Hoover, Ala.
“That may be where he needs to grow is his consistent motor and consistent effort,” a coach recruiting Traore said. “He should be getting nine or 10 rebounds a game.”
If Traore develops those instincts, he has the tools to become a dominant college big man. In just a few months, he’s gone from a player with zero scholarship offers to one being chased by a long list of high majors. Traore’s current list of schools in pursuit includes Gonzaga, Kansas, Ohio State, LSU, USC, Arkansas, Tennessee, Cal, Texas, TCU, Houston and Texas Tech, according to his cousin Daniel Ehambe. Ehambe, who played at Texas A&M Commerce, is helping to train Traore and helping to oversee his recruitment.
HOOVER, Ala. — French big man Yohan Traore is still getting used to the American basketball scene. He arrived just 11 months ago, shipped out to basketball factory Prolific Prep for his junior year of high school. He watched his first college basketball in February. He started hearing from college coaches in April. But a sign that he’s become at least partially Americanized in the basketball world was what he did July 9 at the 3SSB Adidas tournament.
It was there he matched against five-star big man Kijani Wright, who is ranked 10th in his class by 247Sports. Rankings would have been foreign to Traore a year ago, but he was very aware Wright was ranked much higher than him — he’s currently No. 72 — and he appeared on a mission to make a point. Minutes into the game, Traore found himself with the ball on the right wing and Wright in a stance in front of him. Traore drove left, then spun around Wright, finishing with a righty scoop at the bucket. Traore would go on to put on a show, scoring 18 points by halftime of an 84-71 win. If he was trying to make a point, it landed.
Asked a day later about his favorite moment during his rise this spring and summer, Traore said, “The game against Compton Magic, because I played against somebody ranked higher than me. I did good.”
If there’s a reason for a midsummer edit of the rankings, it would be Traore. Any college coach who watched him in Alabama will tell you he was the best player at the event, which included five-stars Chris Livingston, Keyonte George and Wright, who are all ranked in the top 10 of their class.
“A dominant force,” one college coach told The Athletic. “There are certain guys that are like three-star, four-star guys, and then you see them for the first time and all of a sudden they move up a star because they give you that wow factor when you see them. I thought Johan did that this past weekend.”
Traore, an unknown to most a few months ago, has made college coaches do a double-take this spring and summer. He arrived at Prolific Prep in mid-August, but he barely played. According to Prolific’s website, he competed in only six games and averaged 2.7 points, saddled behind two five-star bigs (Adem Bona and Nate Bittle, who is headed to Oregon). College coaches started to take notice this spring when he played for the Southern Assault on the Adidas circuit.
What’s unusual about his performance last weekend was it came playing for Dream Vision, a team out of San Diego. He had been playing for Texas-based Southern Assault after moving in February to stay with Jonathan Muipatayi, his distant cousin in Arlington, Texas. But because Traore’s U.S. address is in California, he switched to an in-state team for the July evaluation period. He practiced for just one week with Dream Vision, and then put up the best numbers on the circuit over the weekend, averaging 20.5 points on 63.6 percent shooting over six games. He led the event in dunks (23), and he was the most efficient scorer among players with at least 10 possessions, scoring 1.28 points per possession, according to Synergy Sports.
His athleticism at 6-foot-11 stands out right away. He’s a quick leaper — hence all the dunks — and he really thrived running the floor and scoring out of pick-and-rolls, whether it was short rolls or catching and finishing near the rim. Offensively, he checks all the boxes for a modern big guy and also fits any college team that takes a more old-school approach. He scored in the post over both shoulders. He made hook shots and turnarounds. One of his most impressive moves was a face-up and then step back into an elbow jumper. What makes him such a good screener is he can flip his hips quickly. That also makes him tough in the post as he can quickly spin baseline and dunk before a big man realizes what’s happened.
“Some of these big guys have become dinosaurs, in terms of just like true centers, but he seems like he’s more than that,” the college coach said. “He’s a guy that eventually could be a Bam Adebayo type — if he keeps on improving his skill. Obviously, Bam is a guy that can dribble the ball pretty well, drive it pretty well, doesn’t shoot it great, but Yohan’s got that same body type. Very impressive.”
Traore’s jumper is potentially a weapon as well. He can stretch it out to the 3-point line, and his mechanics look good. That’s a part of his game he hasn’t always had. Grand Canyon forward Yvan Ouedraogo, who was with Traore for two years at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (INSEP) in Paris, said Traore was a wing when he showed up in 2017.
“At that time, he couldn’t really shoot, but he was fast and athletic,” Ouedraogo said. “He could put the ball on the floor.”
On Saturday night at the Homewood Suites in Hoover, Ala., Traore said his ability to put the ball on the floor was something he hasn’t been able to really show off yet. The next day, he flashed it, catching the ball at the top of the key, going to his left and spinning around for a turnaround jumper. Later in the game, he Euro-stepped around a guard trying to stop him in transition and scored at the rim.
Traore has been well-schooled. At 14, he was discovered at a showcase in his hometown of Tours, France, by INSEP coaches. A majority of the best athletes in France end up at INSEP. Tony Parker and Boris Diaw attended the academy. Instead of playing professionally in France like Parker and Diaw did before joining the NBA, Traore decided the best route was to come to a prep school in America.
“I wanted to take my game to the next level, play against the best players in the country,” he said. “I think that’s the best opportunity for me.”
Traore is confident but soft-spoken. He said he had to adjust to American bigs’ aggressiveness, which he’s done when he has the ball in his hands. Also showing ferocity away from the ball is the next step. He averaged just four rebounds per game in Hoover, Ala.
“That may be where he needs to grow is his consistent motor and consistent effort,” a coach recruiting Traore said. “He should be getting nine or 10 rebounds a game.”
If Traore develops those instincts, he has the tools to become a dominant college big man. In just a few months, he’s gone from a player with zero scholarship offers to one being chased by a long list of high majors. Traore’s current list of schools in pursuit includes Gonzaga, Kansas, Ohio State, LSU, USC, Arkansas, Tennessee, Cal, Texas, TCU, Houston and Texas Tech, according to his cousin Daniel Ehambe. Ehambe, who played at Texas A&M Commerce, is helping to train Traore and helping to oversee his recruitment.
