The way his agent explained it, Sananda Frudid not commit to Louisville basketball and coach Pat Kelsey to “eventually be one of the guys.”
No, the 6-foot-11, 245-pound German forward wants to be the guy from the moment he arrives on campus as part of the Cardinals’ 2025 recruiting class.
“He’s coming in to have a big role with Louisville,” Fru’s agent, Milan Nikolic, told Drew Deener and Mark Blankenbaker on Feb. 12, during an appearance on ESPN Louisville. “That’s, I think, what everybody expects and what he brings to the table.”
Fru, 21, is currently playing his fourth season in Germany’s top-flight Basketball Bundesliga and has also suited up for his country’s U20 national team at the European Championships in 2022 and 2023. Across 24.1 minutes per appearance (17 games, 16 starts) for Löwen Braunschweig this go-around, he’s averaging 11.3 points on 65.8% shooting with five rebounds and 1.5 blocks.
Depending on when their season finishes, or how deep they go in the playoff run, we will decide with staff when it’s best for him to come over,” Nikolic said. “But his approach is: ‘The sooner the better.'”
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A source with direct knowledge of the recruiting process told The Courier Journal that Fru “should” have two years of collegiate eligibility. He is Kelsey’s second commitment of the cycle, joining five-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr., a McDonald’s All-American whom he competed against two years ago at an Adidas camp in Italy.
How did the Cards land Fru? Nikolic offered his perspective to Deener and Blankenbaker before taking 502 Circle founder Marc Spiegel and president Dan Furman to watch the big man play in person:
Kelsey constantly preaches about “The Power of the Unit,” and Nikolic said it was on display during Fru’s recruitment.
“The whole (process) — with the guys from the collective, with the coaching staff, with the support staff, with the managers — everything was top notch,” he said. “It wasn’t just, as I like to call it, ‘American friendly.’ It was true, honest, sincere guys; everything they said added up.”
Assistant coach Brian Kloman made first contact “around summertime,” Nikolic said. A bunch of virtual meetings followed. Then, he visited Louisville in early December and attended the Cards’ loss to Duke at the KFC Yum! Center. The energy around the program amid Kelsey’s drastic Year 1 turnaround was infectious — even with Fru only getting a taste from afar.
“I was sending Sananda pictures and videos throughout the game; and he was super, super excited about it,” Nikolic said. “The closer the date comes for him to come over, the more excited he gets.”
Nikolic told Deener and Blankenbaker that former Kentucky forward Tre Mitchell had a hand in piquing Fru’s interest in joining the Division I ranks when he arrived at Löwen Braunschweig in August. He then pointed to two former European pros enjoying immediate collegiate success this season: Egor Demin at BYU and Kasparas Jakucionis at Illinois. His client, he believes, can blaze his own trail at U of L for a couple of reasons.
No. 1: strength and conditioning coach Eli Foy, who played a key role in developing Deandre Ayton into the top pick in the 2018 NBA Draft during a stint on Sean Miller’s staff at Arizona.
“This is the biggest field of improvement for Sananda,” Nikolic said. “Body-wise, he’s somewhat of a late bloomer.”
Fru was an early entrant for the 2023 NBA Draft but eventually withdrew his name from consideration.
If you go back a year or two and look at him, he still hasn’t filled out his frame, I think,” Nikolic said. “When it comes to strength and muscles, I think there’s a lot of upside. I’m hoping that this is a big part that will help him, especially thinking toward the NBA or eventually going back to Europe, that he develops there.”
No. 2: Kelsey’s offensive and defensive systems; which reward guys who can attack the basket while also posing a threat from 3-point range, setting a dizzying amount of screens and making the extra pass when needed — guys who can guard multiple positions while not compromising on the physicality they bring to the post.
How they want to play, and how they want to use Sananda, was something that was very, very intriguing for us,” Nikolic said. “… It was crucial, with who he is and where he’s at in his young career, that simply the basketball fit is right.”
They’re especially keen on Kelsey letting Fru fire away more frequently from deep. The big man is 4 for 14 from beyond the arc this season with Löwen Braunschweig. He made a career-high seven on 21 attempts in 2023-24.
“I think it’s an undervalued factor of his game,” Nikolic said. “Working with coach Kelsey and the rest of the staff, I truly hope that this will evolve further.”