brandon mccoy

Wearing size 17 shoes and standing 7-foot-3, Cherif Millogo is under the basket holding up his arms and touching the rim without leaving the ground. The rest of the “tiny” people in the St. Francis High gym are gawking in awe at his 7-9 wingspan.

That includes 6-8 head coach Todd Wolfson, who has twice won the basketball coaching lottery by having his second 7-footer show up out of nowhere. The first was 7-0 Belgium exchange student Gilles Dierickx when he was coaching at Chaminade in 2017.

This time, Wolfson received a phone call from an administrator at St. Francis in August.

“There’s a 7-3 kid wanting to come to St. Francis,” the administrator said.

“I thought he was lying,” Wolfson said.

Millogo didn’t play last season while attending the Cambridge Arts, Technology and Science Academy in Boston after tearing a knee ligament. He’s from the tiny West Africa country Burkina Faso. He was a soccer player until he had a growth spurt, participated in a basketball camp and was spotted playing in Togo, a country bordering Ghana. He ended up moving to Florida two years ago. He said he learned how to shoot a basketball watching YouTube videos of Kevin Durant.

St. Francis coach Todd Wolfson, who’s 6-foot-8, is no longer the tallest person in the gym. Cherif Millogo is 7-3 and a native of Burkina Faso.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

He speaks French, English and two tribal languages. He has a 7-foot older brother and his father is 6-8. He turned 18 on Sept. 27, which means he has two years of high school eligibility left. His guardian is former UCLA and NBA player Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who came here from Cameroon.

Millogo was instantly embraced around St. Francis because of his engaging, friendly personality. During a practice, while listening in a circle around Wolfson, he had his arms around a teammate as if they were lifelong friends.

“He’s made me a better person,” Wolfson said. “His values are amazing.”

Millogo said his parents taught him to be respectful and friendly.

“For me, it’s natural,” he said.

Sophomore guard Luke Paulus said players were as surprised as Wolfson to learn about Millogo’s arrival.

“No way,” he said when he heard about the rumors. “First day of school, I saw him. ‘Wow, that’s a big human being.’ He’s a fun guy.”

Millogo, who’s Muslim, said attending a Catholic school is good. “I’m learning about new religions,” he said.

He also can show off his soccer skills if asked by juggling a ball with his feet.

Millogo joins an already talent-filled Mission League with the No. 1 class of 2026 prospect, Tyran Stokes of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, and top five 2026 prospect, Brandon McCoy of Sierra Canyon.

Cherif Millogo towers over his new St. Francis High teammates.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Millogo was asked if he was aware of Stokes and McCoy.

“From social media,” he said.

See what having an Instagram account can do to promote a high school basketball program? He said he saw a social media post of St. Francis’ students cheering at a game.

To say there could be lots of alley-oop passes this season for St. Francis might be an understatement. Wolfson, who has used a matchup zone defense at times during his coaching days, is teasing how it might make a return with Millogo in the middle. And he’s already planning for some new out-of-bounds plays trying to take advantage of Millogo’s height.

Millogo looks like a sold free-throw shooter and shot-blocker. Then there’s dunking with ease. He had nine dunks last weekend in a fall league game in which he scored 32 points. The previous game, he had 24 points, including five dunks. He should be eligible immediately next month when the season officially begins based on the fact he didn’t play last season, but St. Francis has yet to submit his transfer paperwork.

One thing is certain: The St. Francis student section and many other fans are going to be entertained watching Millogo deliver dunk after dunk.