Intriguing big man from Louisville high school has UK basketball coaches’ attention

It has been an intense two weeks of travel for Kentucky’s basketball coaches ever since the fall recruiting period began Sept. 9, with the UK staff criss-crossing the country, meeting with a long list of prospective Wildcats.

One such visit earlier this week allowed Chin Coleman to stay closer to home.

The Kentucky assistant coach was in Louisville on Tuesday to check out Evangel Christian, a basketball program with several intriguing talents. One of the players at the top of Coleman’s watch list was Cyr Malonga, a 6-foot-11 center from the Republic of Congo who has been playing basketball for only three years but has already made a name for himself in recruiting circles.

Malonga is entering his second year at Evangel after averaging 11.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He’s coming off a fruitful summer on the Nike EYBL circuit and was a standout player at a recent combine in Memphis. This season, he’ll continue to develop under the tutelage of longtime Kentucky high school basketball coach Larry Miller, who recently took the top job at Evangel Christian.

Miller, who has been the head coach at Male, Moore and Hopkinsville — and won a state championship in Ohio earlier in his career — has been working out with Malonga over the past couple of weeks. He sees an emerging talent with a bright basketball future.

“He runs well for his size,” Miller told the Herald-Leader. “He’s got a really good skill level for a 6-11 kid. He can handle the ball. He can shoot from the perimeter. And he’s been playing a short period of time, so his upside is really, really high.”

Malonga’s new coach said he still needs to become more aggressive on the court, something they’ve been working on. He also needs to gain strength — he started lifting weights just last week — and develop more in the post and as an overall defender.

Obviously still raw — understandable for a 6-11 player still relatively new to the game — Malonga possesses elite athleticism and some natural feel on the court.

Brandon Bender, a longtime figure on the state’s basketball scene, is helping Malonga navigate his early development and the recruiting process. Bender called him a gym rat and a “tremendous athlete” who can touch the top of the square on the backboard, with a nice shooting touch from the mid-range that extends all the way to the three-point line.

Both Miller and Bender say a good strength and conditioning program in college should do wonders for his development. Malonga is about 210 pounds right now, and Bender thinks he can add another 20-30 pounds of muscle when he gets to college.

Miller envisions Malonga as more of a “trail 4” player in college — “he’s not going to be a low-post ‘5’ player,” he said — and noted that more gains on the defensive end will allow him even more versatility in the future. He can already block shots, an aspect of his game that should improve even more with added aggression. Malonga is also working on his defensive skills out on the perimeter, and Miller thinks he’ll be able to switch onto and stay with smaller guards by the time he gets to college.

A standout soccer player in his native country, Malonga is entering just his third year of organized basketball.

“I think he’ll have a really good year, but his best basketball is ahead of him,” Miller said.

Recruiting Cyr Malonga

It’s that long-term potential that has college coaches checking on Malonga this fall.

In addition to the visit from Coleman on Tuesday, coaches from Illinois and Virginia have been in to see Malonga since the start of the fall recruiting period two weeks ago. Bender said that Memphis Coach Penny Hardaway was scheduled to see him Thursday and that coaches from Tennessee and Western Kentucky were also coming in this week. Michigan Coach Juwan Howard watched Malonga multiple times during the summer, and Bender said the Wolverines are also still involved in his recruitment.

UK assistant coach Orlando Antigua also saw Malonga on the Nike circuit in July, and the follow-up visit from Coleman indicates that Kentucky is interested in keeping tabs on his development.

“Chin likes him a lot,” Bender said, adding that he’s known both UK assistants for more than a decade.

Malonga is planning to visit Memphis for that program’s midnight madness event Oct. 13, then travel to Lexington for Big Blue Madness two days later.

Right now, he’s not included by 247Sports, Rivals.com or ESPN in the 2023 national rankings, not unusual for a player so new to the sport and one who analysts have seen relatively little of so far. He might not stay in that 2023 class much longer, however.

Malonga has been viewed as a reclassification candidate in the past, and Bender said this week that he was probably about 50-50 on that possibility going into the season, adding that he does have the academics to bump up to the 2022 class and play college ball next year, if he chooses.

Kentucky’s search for frontcourt talent for next season has zeroed in on five-star center Adem Bona, who could be a day one starter at the highest level. Any major impact on a high-major college team from Malonga would likely come a little further down the developmental road.

“He will be a four-year college player, in my estimation,” Miller said, again emphasizing Malonga’s long-term potential and noting that a college education would also be important to him.

Evangel Christian’s season is scheduled to tip off Nov. 30 with a game at Bowling Green, and the slate features major events in Chicago, Las Vegas and Myrtle Beach, as well as the All A competition and several games against Louisville high schools.

Lexington-area fans should be able to get a look at Malonga on Feb. 5, when Evangel Christian is scheduled to play at Woodford County.