Westtown power forward Jonathan Kasibabu has committed to play at Fairfield University, choosing the Stags over offers from Drexel, Robert Morris, Rider, and Fordham.
"Jonathan had a lot of schools that were interested and could fit him well," Westtown coach Seth Berger said. "Fairfield seems to fit him best."
Despite missing a large chunk of games during his senior campaign, the 6-foot-8 Congo native bounced back strong, helping the Moose reach the PAISAA championship game. Westtown finished the season with an impressive 24-8 mark.
A powerful forward with a college-ready body, Kasibabu has a well-developed game and should challenge for playing time right away in the MAAC, where he'll be equipped to handle the physicality of the Division I level.
Kasibabu becomes the latest in a string of Westtown big men to go D-I, joining Daniel Ochefu (Villanova) and Yilret Yiljep (American); rising junior Mohammed Bamba has already more than a dozen high-major options to choose from.
Outside of Westtown, Kasibabu has competed internationally for Real Madrid's junior team, where he averaged 10.2 points per game over parts of two seasons.
At Fairfield, Kasibabu will play alongside La Salle College High School alum Steve Smith, who enters his junior season.
Last season, under Sydney Johnson, the Stags posted a 7-24 overall record, leaving the door open for competition.
"Jonathan can be an impact player at Fairfield almost immediately," Berger said. "I expect him to go in and compete and play right away."
MILAN, ITALY - MAY 18, 2014: Jonathan Kasibabu, #13 of Real Madrid in action during the Nike International Junior Tournament game between Crvena Zvezda Belgrade vs Real Madrid at Mediolanum Forum on May 18, 2014 in Milan, Italy:
Post by nashvillestag on Apr 24, 2015 22:54:35 GMT -5
Quite sure this is the guy I saw last week outside the athletic center just before going in to watch the lacrosse game. Certainly a big strong body. Don't know much else. Some pretty good schools involved beside Fairfield. The fact that Fordham was one of them suggests to me that Parotta might have been the initial recruiter. Welcome aboard Jonathon!
His HS produces a lot of good big men and plays tough competition. His HS is 15 minutes from my house and produced Daniel Ochefu of Villanova..... My current favorite College basketball player. If he is anything like Ochefu, we got a great one. Nice Form on his jumper. He is listed at 6-8 and 240 to 245 pounds.
dick Vitale would put him right now on an all airport team. He looks impressive. The Nbadraft.net report is concerning-age and other issues around foreigners can be a concern. Mitch lost a year (and I think another player) to these types of issues just after mitch got the siena job. His 10ppg for Nike sponsored Real Madrid should have generated exposure and interest. Scored only 4 points in his HS championship game. There are some red flags.
I think we have to take with some caution that his coach says he can play right away in the conference; that is surely TBD. But as a frosh big with a college ready body, he fills a need. How much he plays next year depends on Amadou's health, Kirk's consistency, Degnan's growth, Marcus's role and, of course, his own readiness. But even if he plays sparingly in 15-16, we can perhaps look forward to how he can be paired with Degnan in the frontcourt after next season.
I think we have to take with some caution that his coach says he can play right away in the conference; that is surely TBD. But as a frosh big with a college ready body, he fills a need. How much he plays next year depends on Amadou's health, Kirk's consistency, Degnan's growth, Marcus's role and, of course, his own readiness. But even if he plays sparingly in 15-16, we can perhaps look forward to how he can be paired with Degnan in the frontcourt after next season.
The coaches always say the same thing regarding their players, right? So we'll see how ready he is in the fall. And yes, I did see a college ready body when I was 30 feet away from him last week. Hopefully he knows how to use it to his advantage. Got a feeling that this guy will be mostly an inside "dirty" type player who will do a lot of damage in the paint. That would go well with Degnan with his ability to make plays away from the basket. Of course both these guys have yet to prove they will be effective. But still, I like the possibilities for the future. BTW for next year, don't forget about Coleman. Also, I think you meant to say Malcolm rather than Marcus regarding the role of another interior player.
By my count, that's it for the Stags are far as recruiting for next year is concerned. If you see a tweet that someone for 2015 is on a visit, you know someone else is being shown the door.
I think we have to take with some caution that his coach says he can play right away in the conference; that is surely TBD. But as a frosh big with a college ready body, he fills a need. How much he plays next year depends on Amadou's health, Kirk's consistency, Degnan's growth, Marcus's role and, of course, his own readiness. But even if he plays sparingly in 15-16, we can perhaps look forward to how he can be paired with Degnan in the frontcourt after next season.
I would agree somewhat that "we have to take with some caution that his coach says he can play right away in the conference"...... however, his Westtown coach, Seth Berger, is well regarded. He seems to have an excellent pipeline of bringing in International players, especially Big Guys. In addition to Ochefu of Villanova from 3 years ago, he also had 7-1 Georgios Papagiannis from 2 years ago, who was NBA ready in HS. Here is what he said about Papagiannis...... "I think he's the best player I will ever coach until I'm 80 years old; he has a legitimate chance to be a top five pick in the 2016 NBA Draft," Westtown head coach Seth Berger said of the Greek center last October. "George is a one-and-done for sure. He's that once-in-a-lifetime kind of player." Papagiannis signed a Pro Contact in Greece, right out of HS.
I do like a Degnan and Kasibabu combo as a future frontcourt. Their skillsets seem to compliment each other well. And if Kasibabu is truly 245lbs, then he wears it well and is the type of player we need up front .
Last Edit: Apr 25, 2015 12:54:44 GMT -5 by JoeStag
