Louisville’s German connection: Fru coming on strong, and Cards will need his talents in the paint to reach goals

By RUSS BROWN • Photos By UofL Athletics 

Everyone knows by now that Louisville has a horde of deadly sharpshooters on its basketball team that can score points in bunches when they get hot behind the 3-point line. Mikel Brown Jr., Isaac McKneely and Ryan Conwell, along with several others, have burned a number of victims during the first two months of the season while becoming a major reason for the Cardinals early success that resulted in a top-10 ranking. 

However, if the Cards expect to challenge Duke for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and make a run at the Final Four, their offense needs to become more versatile. Translated, that means developing an inside threat to keep opposing defenses honest so they can’t concentrate all their efforts on U of L’s long distance attack. 

With that, let me introduce you to Sananda Fru, the 6-foot-11, 245-pound German who has shown promising signs of becoming Louisville’s consistent paint presence. 

Fru, a native of Berlin, started coming into his own and showcasing his potential in the third game of the season when the Cards defeated Kentucky to snap a five-game losing streak against their archrival. The 23-year-old junior contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists with only one turnover in 25 minutes. 

Beginning with that coming out party, in eight games through mid-December Fru scored in double figures six times, averaging 10.6 points per game and 6.1 rebounds. He hit an astounding 84 percent of his shots (32-38), mostly from point blank range or on dunks of course, but he also made two of his three tries from beyond the arc. 

UofL coach Pat Kelsey said Fru needed time to adjust from international competition to his first taste of collegiate basketball, but his progress has probably accelerated faster than Kelsey anticipated. 

“Sananda is just getting more comfortable,” Kelsey said. “You can just tell; you can feel it. You can see it in his demeanor and the way about him, the way he’s playing, the more confidence he’s playing with. It’s a new style of basketball than what he’s used to. It’s a new system. It’s different than what he was a part of. You move from another part of the world, new culture, new food, new friends, no family. It just takes a little bit of time for those guys to adjust.” 

In U of L’s high post pick-and-roll action, Fru is effective both screening for Brown, Conwell and McKneely along with rolling to the rim and finishing or catching a lob and flushing it. His influence is also evident on defense around the basket where he had blocked a team-high 11 shots at press time and altered or discouraged numerous others. For instance, he limited UK’s 6-10 Brandon Garrison and 6-7 Mouhamed Dioubate to just eight shot attempts and wound up with a game-best plus-11 efficiency rating. 

“The biggest difference in my role back home is that I wouldn’t have the ball in my hands and was mainly a pick and roll guy,” Fru said. “Coach wants me to get the ball. It’s just a big difference that I wasn’t used to. I’m still adjusting, but it feels better. I’d say it’s a steady improvement. 

“The way we’re playing I think really suits me. Super aggressive, like to run, like big men who are more on the flex side -- run the court, can stretch the court, play aggressive defense. I just think it suits me a lot, and that’s a big reason why I chose (UofL).” 

When he became determined to play in the U.S., Fru committed to Louisville last February without visiting. A trend that has been gaining popularity recently is for college coaches to recruit a player from the European pro ranks who has collegiate eligibility remaining. Coaches like it because they are getting a prospect who is battle-tested against older men and players feel that foreign experience gives them an opportunity to quickly earn playing time. Fru played four seasons in the Federal Basketball League, the highest level of pro club basketball in Germany, with Loewen Braunschweig, averaging 12.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks last year. 

“It’s easier to chase your dream,” Fru told The Field of 68 after signing with the Cards in June. “Every young kid wants to play in the USA at one point -- wants to make the NBA. I felt like the U.S. gives you the best chance.” 

Fru is one of four Cards that give U of L’s roster an international flavor. Aly Khalifa is a 7-0 senior center from Alexandria, Egypt; 6-8 forward/center Vangelis Zougris hails from Peristeri, Greece; and 6-8 freshman forward Mouhamed Camara is a native of Dakar, Senegal who came to U of L from the NBA Academy Africa. 

While Fru has started every game this season, Khalifa -- a BYU transfer nicknamed the “Egyptian Magician” -- sees substantial minutes as his backup. Zougris played in six of the first 10 games, while Camara is redshirting. Khalifa’s best performance came in a win over Ohio when he recorded 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in a mere 19 minutes, hitting 3-of-4 trifectas. 

“The efficiency, the things that (the bigs) do that relates to winning, maybe doesn’t show up on the stat sheet,” Kelsey said. “I talked about the one day Sananda had two field goal attempts, but he was the second-most efficient guy in our efficiency standards. That takes everything into account: defensive grading, defensive responsibility, pick and roll coverage, screening, screen assists, everything. Those guys do so much.” 

Khalifa spent last season as a spectator while recovering from surgery to repair a hole in the cartilage of his left knee — dropping roughly 50 pounds with the help of strength coach Eli Foy. Khalifa’s playmaking ability is his forte and the reason for his nickname. His average of 3.2 assists is second only on the team to Brown’s 5.3, and Brown is handling the ball much of the time as the team’s floor general. 

“I haven’t seen it before — besides (Nikola) Jokić,” Brown said, comparing Khalifa to the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player. “He’s the closest thing to Jokić when it comes to passing. It’s so easy to play with him; just being able to hit him at the top of the key and (knowing) he’s going to make the right play every single time. It’s truly a blessing to be able to play with him.” 

Kelsey calls Khalifa the best-passing big man in the country. 

If Fru and Khalifa continue to improve and their teammates keep playing at a high level at both ends of the court, this could be a special season for the Cards, as Kelsey has noted. In the preseason media poll, the Cards were picked to finish second in the ACC behind Duke, but trailed by only 24 points, and they received 15 first-place votes (to the Blue Devils’ 34). 

U of L opened its league season on the road at California (Dec. 30) and Stanford (Jan. 2) before returning to the KFC Yum! Center for a three-game homestand against Duke (Jan. 6), Boston College (Jan. 10) and Virginia (Jan. 13). 

Aly Khalifa , Louisville’s “Egyptia