How Kenny Pohto’s shooting could make him a factor for Wichita State men’s basketball
Fresh off leading Sweden’s under-20 national team to an international championship, incoming freshman Kenny Pohto made his debut in practice for the Wichita State men’s basketball team last week.
Because he was practicing and playing for his home country in the U-20 Nordic Cup this summer, the 6-foot-11 versatile big man was unable to practice with his WSU teammates until last Monday when fall classes began.
It didn’t take long for Pohto to make an impression on teammates, as he showed off a reliable three-point stroke that could make him an intriguing option off the bench right away for the Shockers.
“Kenny is a great player and even though he’s young and he might not be as physical in the paint, he can step out and shoot the basketball and that’s big for someone at the (center) position),” WSU guard Tyson Etienne said after playing pick-up with Pohto for the first time. “I know that’s going to serve us well this season.”
With news surfacing this week that sophomore center Matt McFarlane has left the program, Pohto’s importance to the Shockers as a back-up to incumbent starter Morris Udeze, who averaged 23.8 minutes per game last season at center, likely increased.
WSU head coach Isaac Brown has stockpiled versatile athletes on the roster, but one luxury he does not have is a lot of height. At 6-11, Pohto is the tallest Shocker by three inches and that could make him valuable right away in a chunk of the 15 or so minutes per game that Udeze is not on the court.
But relying on a true freshman to play meaningful minutes right away at the center position against American Athletic Conference competition can be a risky proposition. It will likely take time for Pohto to adjust to the speed of the game, as well as the caliber of athletes and physicality he will face on a game-by-game basis.
Depending on Pohto’s development, WSU could always decide to play small in the minutes when Udeze is not on the court. If WSU does end up going the undersized route, then Joe Pleasant, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound junior transfer from Abilene Christian, has the chops on both ends of the court to play center in spot minutes behind Udeze.
Working in Pohto’s favor is the fact that he was a starter at Sunrise Christian Academy, one of the nation’s top prep teams that played a nationally ranked schedule. He’s also coming off an international tournament where he competed against players sometimes two years older than him.
“I feel like things are going well so far, but the competition is way different here,” Pohto said. “It’s way more athletic here.”
Pohto was once considered a unanimous top-150 player in the 2021 recruiting class, a testament to his rare combination of three-point shooting and rim protecting abilities. Although he dropped slightly in the final recruiting rankings, Pohto displayed that tantalizing combination for his Sweden under-20 team this summer.
Pohto led Sweden to the U-20 Nordic Cup championship and was named the tournament’s best player after scoring a game-high 21 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 on three-pointers, to go along with eight rebounds and four blocked shots in Sweden’s 79-73 victory over Estonia.
“It’s always fun to play with team Sweden,” Pohto said. “So to get the MVP and then we won it too, that was even more fun.”
While Pohto’s shooting ability could allow WSU to play him at power forward someday, it’s likely he will be used primarily at center for this upcoming season due to the positional needs on the roster.
It’s easy to imagine how he could fit in on offense. Pohto will likely have to prove himself as a three-point threat first, but if he does, then the threat alone could do wonders for WSU’s offense. He could set high ball screens for WSU’s guards and pop to the three-point line, forcing defenses in a bind on how to cover the ball screens. Or Pohto could space the floor and spot up in a corner, much like he did at Sunrise, awaiting a kick-out for three and drawing the defense’s center — usually a shot-blocking presence — away from the rim to open up much-needed driving lanes for guards like Etienne, Dexter Dennis and Ricky Council IV.
Pohto is billed as a high-IQ player and could likely find ways to help WSU’s offense even when he’s not hitting outside shots, like setting good screens, cutting to the rim, making the right read and crashing the glass. But to become an impact player off the bench, he’ll need to knock down three-pointers.
“Kenny is a very skilled and strong 6-foot-11 kid that’s extremely versatile on both sides of the ball,” Sunrise coach Luke Barnwell told The Eagle after Pohto signed with WSU. “For us, he played more on the perimeter and shot threes and opened up the lane for us. He could really pass and was a very good screener. And then defensively, he can guard multiple positions and at times we could switch him onto point guards because he moves laterally so well.”
WSU hasn’t had a true floor-stretching threat at center since the 2017-18 season when Shaquille Morris, Darral Willis and Rauno Nurger combined to drill 44 three-pointers. That threat was part of the reason why WSU was able to achieve its best adjusted offensive efficiency (121.0) season of the KenPom era, which dates back to the 2001-02 season.
With Udeze looking more and more comfortable shooting from the perimeter this summer, Pohto could pair with him to give WSU’s offense a dimension it has been missing in recent seasons.
“I feel like I’ve been shooting pretty good so far,” Pohto said. “It’s the first time playing with the team, so I was able to make a few threes in the games and that felt pretty good.”
The biggest question facing Pohto will be how he can hold up defensively against other AAC centers. He has the size (6-11 and around 240 pounds) to hold his own, but it usually takes big men more time to adjust to the Division I level of defense and rebounding than other positions.
Pohto will have about three months before the start of the regular season to work with WSU strength and conditioning coach Kerry Rosenboom to prepare his body for the rigors of playing in the American.
Right now, Pohto is not concerned at all about what his potential role could be for WSU this season. He’s enjoying getting to know his new teammates and getting acclimated to campus while attending college classes for the first time.
“The first impression was that this is a group of very funny guys, great guys to hang around,” Pohto said of his WSU teammates. “I’ve just really enjoyed the experience so far. They’ve welcomed me with open arms and I’ve really liked it so far.”
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