Angelo Kouame

Kakou Ange Franck Williams Kouame, more commonly known as Angelo "Ange" Kouame (born December 15, 1997), is an Ivorian college basketball player for the Ateneo Blue Eagles of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

Angelo Kouame
No. 34 – Ateneo Blue Eagles
PositionCenter
LeagueUAAP
Personal information
Born (1997-12-15) December 15, 1997
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
NationalityIvorian
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Career information
CollegeAteneo de Manila University (2018–present)
Career highlights and awards

Early life

Born on December 15, 1997[1] in the Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Kouame was into football during his childhood until taking up basketball at age 16. Him taking up the sport came to be when he and his younger brother requested their dad for football kits and he was given a basketball jersey instead.[2] When his father died in 2012,[3] he started committing on playing basketball as a means to cope for his loss.[2] Koaume played 3-a-side street basketball with his friends and was part of his high school's basketball team, although he remarked that his stint with his school's team was "not that serious" and involved more "practicing".[3] He moved to the Philippines to study under a student-athlete scholarship with the Ateneo de Manila University. Kouame, being a French native speaker, studied for one year at the Multiple Intelligence International School (MIIS) in Quezon City to develop his English speaking skills that would help him be acquainted with Filipino culture prior to attending Ateneo.[2]

Career

College

Kouame was able to connect with the Ateneo Blue Eagles through his Cameroonian friend Aaron Njike who got recruited for a team in the United States. Njike linked Kouame to Ateneo team manager Epok Quimpo for an opportunity to try out for the collegiate side. He was assessed by coaches Yuri Escueta and Tab Baldwin, the latter who was a team consultant for Ateneo at the time. Ateneo decided to have Kouame join the team despite lacking in fundamentals and training. Koaume only learned how to play traditional 5-a-side basketball in the Philippines and had to learn basketball terminologies in English.[3]

Despite being a foreign player, Kouame did not have to fulfill a residency requirement, due to him graduating from MIIS in Quezon City and debuted for the Ateneo Blue Eagles in UAAP Season 81 in 2018.[4] Prior to his UAAP debut, Kouame was part of Glory Be, Ateneo's B team for a year and also featured for the main collegiate team at the SMART City Hoops Basketball Championship, the SMART Breakdown Basketball Invitationals U25 Division, and the FilOil Preseason Cup in 2018.[2]

He helped Ateneo clinch two consecutive titles; in UAAP Season 81 and 82.[5]

National team

Koaume has been considered for the Philippine national team as early as 2018, following his stint in the 2018 William Jones Cup in Taiwan with Ateneo. However, Koaume would have to obtain Filipino citizenship to be eligible. He successfully obtained consent from his mother to obtain Filipino citizenship, despite his mother hesitating initially over concerns that he might lose his Ivorian citizenship.[6]

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas in 2020 began to lobby in the Congress for Kouame to be given Filipino citizenship through naturalization following his performance in UAAP Season 82 which would make him eligible to play for the Philippine national team.[7] Koaume was added to the national team's pool for the November 2020 window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers despite slim chance for his naturalization process to be completed in time for the Philippines' first match in that window. This was meant to help him get acquainted with the Philippine national team's system.[8]

References
  1. "Kakou Kouame". Asia Basket. Eurobasket LLC. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  2. Banaag, Joseph; Uy, Karl (September 21, 2018). "Under the spotlight: Angelo Kouame". The Guidon. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  3. Go, Beatrice (October 31, 2018). "How Angelo Kouame took his game from the streets to the Big Dome". Rappler. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  4. Leongson, Randolph (August 31, 2019). "Eagles team manager says rule cited in Ange Kouame eligibility dispute is outdated". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  5. "Naturalization of Ateneo's Angelo Kouame already in the works". Sun Star Cebu. 23 October 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  6. Li, Matthew (November 28, 2020). "Kouame can't wait to don Gilas' colors: 'I really want to be a part of it'". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  7. "SBP taps Ange Kouame to be part of Gilas naturalized players". Daily Guardian. January 22, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  8. Li, Matthew (November 14, 2020). "Gilas ready to go all-Filipino if Kouame's papers don't make it for Manama bubble". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
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