Prospect Highlight: Aaron Towo-Nansi 2009 FRA Cholet
The talk of the ANGT Podgorica was Real Madrid and their star talent. But 2009-born point guard Aaron Towo-Nansi opened lots of eyes for his strong game, especially considering he was 14 years old.
The talk of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Podgorica was reigning continental champions Real Madrid and their deep squad of star talent. But 2009-born point guard Aaron Towo-Nansi of Cholet Basket opened lots of eyes for his strong game, especially considering he was 14 years old.
The ANGT has traditionally over the last two decades been one of the first places many of the top young talents show what they do on the European continent. Dozens of ANGT alumni have advanced to the NBA and EuroLeague and had long careers. This article is not intended to say that Aaron Towo-Nansi will make the NBA - or even the EuroLeague. But he is another example of a player using the platform to display their game. One that is hard to believe he is only 14 years old.
Towo-Nansi hails from Rennes, which is located in northwest France and serves as the capital of the Brittany region. The youngster of France, Cameroon and Cambodia heritage started playing basketball when he was just 4 years old. His father played the game as does his sister. He was a kid who was always in a gym with a ball in his hands.
He started playing with Rennes’ U15 league in the 2020-21 season, appearing in just one game in Round 3 - at age 11 - scoring 6 points against Cholet. It seems like only destiny that the game came against Cholet. It will be clear later.
The next season, 2021-22, Towo-Nansi split time between Rennes’ U15 and U18 teams - playing predominantly against the younger generation. Despite not turning 13 until early March 2022, he dominated the league, pouring in 18.4 points per game over 16 contests. Towo-Nansi’s season record was 28 points against Poitiers Basket 86, but he had six more games with at least 20 points. In the stretch from Round 6 to 13, he averaged 21.8 points.
Just before that run in Round 4, Towo-Nansi scored 19 points against Cholet and he picked up 25 points against the club in Round 9.
Towo-Nansi finished the 2021-22 season playing three games with the U18 team - scoring 13 points in the three contests for an average of 4.3 points - at age 13. Even his coach Bastien Demeure didn’t know if he was doing the right thing.
“I was excited at the idea of seeing him play U18, but I still asked myself a few questions about how he was going to adapt,” he said in a June 19, 2023 article on Ouest-France (paid subscription necessary).
“From the first game, he scored 10 points, 6 steals and 5 assists in 20 minutes,” Demeure said. “The next game, I put him on a defensive mission against the best opposing player: he didn't score a point when Aaron was defending on him. It's a real gem. A player like we have never seen in the entire history of the club.”
Demeure continued: “Aaron is the youngest player on the team, but he’s the one who understands everything before anyone else. He is a very special talent, with impressive leadership. I saw him again at the end of a game with the U15s last year, when the usual coach was ill. It was he, at the age of 13, who directed his teammates on the last possessions. He is a scorer, who is full of intensity, energy, and who loves hot moments. He often takes the right shot at the right time. He has a very strong mind. And there is genius in his dexterity.”
Since everyone wants comparisons, Demeure obliged in the article and said he sees more Sylvain Francisco than Nando De Colo.
Towo-Nansi after the season was invited to take part in the JR. NBA Elite Camp Europe and Middle East in Rome, Italy. The best girls and boys aged 13 and 14 received on and off-court tips from the likes of former NBA head coach Ryan Saunders, WNBA player Anastasia Kostaki and ex-NBA players Zaza Pachulia, Vladimir Radmanovic and French legend Ronny Turiaf.
The 2022-23 season was spent solely with Rennes’ U18 team and Towo-Nansi collected 11.1 points per game in 18 contests. After scoring a total of 25 points in the first five games of the season, he dropped 20 points against Le Mans in Round 6. That was also a season high for him.
The guard scored 19 points three times over the rest of the season, during which he turned 14 in early March, 2023. At the end of April 2023, he collected 16 points against Nantes.
It was no surprise that Towo-Nansi’s exploits rewarded him a spot on France’s U15 national team last summer. And despite him being the only 2009-born player on the squad, he was named the team captain.
There are no FIBA competitions for the U15 age group and not all countries compete in events, but France did last summer.
They played three games against Germany in mid-June, beating their neighbors 80-50, 78-53 and 66-62. In the opening game, Towo-Nansi collected 6 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 4 steals and 0 turnovers in 16 minutes. He followed that with 13 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 3 turnovers in 20 minutes. Stats could not be found for the third game.
Cholet meanwhile had seen enough and didn’t want to wait any longer. Directly after the trio of games, the club announced the signing of Towo-Nansi.
The Ouest France article from June 19, 2023 (the final game versus Germany was June 18) said Towo-Nansi and his circle chose Cholet for its proximity to Rennes - about a two-hour drive away - but also because of the past success of Cholet’s youth development program with its academy.
The academy has produced six NBA players -Mickael Gelabale, Rodrigue Beaubois, Nando De Colo, Kevin Seraphin, Rudy Gobert and Killian Hayes - and soon there will be a seventh in Tidjane Salaun.
Gobert even serves as an ambassador for the academy. In addition former Cholet youth players Antoine Rigaudeau and Jim Bilba helped France win the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics.
The program has also captured 29 national titles including eight times the U21 Espoirs league, seven times the U21 Trophee du Futur crown and 10 times the U18 national cadet championship and developed 117 professional basketball players.
“Aaron will have to confirm all the good things that we think of him, but he is a young man who has a lot of qualities and for whom there was a lot of competition. We are really happy to welcome him,” Regis Boissie, the head of Cholet’s academy and youth department, was quoted in the 2023 Ouest France article.
With his immediate future locked up, Towo-Nansi went back to the France U15 team for the the big event of the 2023 summer: the four-nation tournament in Heraklion, Greece, where France faced hosts Greece, Italy and Spain, the latter who have won this competition the last three editions.
Buoyed by the move to Cholet and even more time with the team, Towo-Nansi stood out in Greece. Against the hosts he had 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in just 10 minutes of an 83-53 blowout.
A day later he faced Italy and put up 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals as the French eased to an 87-67 win.
In the big game against Spain, France went up 11-4 early and then fell behind in the second quarter and Spain led by 14 points - 64-50 - with 1:00 minute left in the third quarter. France went on a 13-0 run spanning the quarters to get back into the game.
Spain still led 69-63 with just more than 5 minutes to go when Towo-Nansi began to take more of the load offensively. He had a driving layup, a three-pointer and an assist before draining a massive three-pointer from near the center circle and the shotclock winding down to put France ahead 73-72 with 2:46 minutes remaining.
Towo-Nansi then provided the final score with one of two free throws with 16 seconds left in a 78-75 comeback victory. For the game, he totalled 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
After the packed summer, Towo-Nansi went to work with his new club and started the 2023-24 season with 11 points against of all teams his former club Rennes. He had 3 points in Round 2 and then missed the following three games, coming back to pick up 10 points in Round 6 against Rennes again. After missing another game, Towo-Nansi tallied 15 points in Round 8 versus Etoile Angers. And he had 9 points in Round 9 against Le Mans.
The domestic season highlight thus far came in Round 13 against Orleans, which was pushed forward to January 17 because it was originally scheduled for during the Adidas Next Generation Tournament Podgorica. Towo-Nansi scored 20 points in the game against Orleans.
While those who follow the U18 scene in France knew about him, Towo-Nansi came into the ANGT in Montenegro as a relative unknown. In fact, the main thing most people noticed about him was his age - a 2009-born player in a 2006 generation event.
According to the Draft Express database, Towo-Nansi at age 14 years 10 months and 22 days - was the sixth youngest player in ANGT history since 2013. The only players younger than Towo-Nansi were Marco Pecarski (14 years 9 days), Amadou Traore (14y 11d), Jose Roberto (14y 104d), Killian Malwaya (14y 145d) and Lazar Nikolic (14y 186d).
Towo-Nansi impressed observers from the very beginning. While still quite short - listed on the ANGT site at 1.74m - Towo-Nansi has a solid frame but excellent quickness and ball-handling. He also understands how to change his pace and find his way around the court for space to hit his shot. He was fearless in his drive to the basket but also aware when his shot may be blocked. Despite playing 109 minutes (27 minutes per game) he did not get one of his 30 shots blocked.
He opened the tournament - the first game of the event - with 4 points, 1 rebound, 7 assists, 3 steals, 8 fouls drawn and 2 turnovers against hosts SC Derby Podgorica - making just 1/7 shots. He followed that with 11 points on 4/5 shots including 3/4 threes, 4 assists, 4 fouls drawn and 2 turnovers in 30 minutes against Next Generation Team Podgorica - a game that tipped off at 6pm local time the first day after having played the opening game at 9am - at age 14.
Against ALBA Berlin the next day, Towo-Nansi picked up 2 points on 1/7 shots (0/2 threes), 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steals and 3 turnovers in 23 minutes.
On the third day, Cholet took on Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in the 7th place game and Towo-Nansi nearly helped his team come back from 15 points down to win. But the team came up just short.
Starting from the 2:25-minute mark of the third quarter and Cholet down 53-39, Towo-Nansi scored all 17 of his points - including 2 three-pointers and 7/7 free throws - plus dished out 1 assist in the 7:25 minutes of action until 5:00 minutes to go in the fourth quarter and Cholet down 69-62.
Towo-Nansi did not take another shot until with 17 seconds left and team down by 6. For the game, he finished with 17 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 1 steal, 9 fouls drawn and 2 turnovers in 26 minutes.
Towo-Nansi now heads back to the French U18 domestic league with even more confidence than he already had. He will turn 15 on March 4 and knows where he stands at an age generation three years older than him. And he know where he needs to improve his game. Towo-Nansi is also aware he is with a club and program that knows how to take players to the next level if he is willing to work.
We have seen the first real glimpse of Aaron Towo-Nansi. It will certainly not be the last as the future is very bright for this young Cholet talent.
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