It was nearly half a year ago when Kaza Kajami-Keane’s illustrious career as a Carleton Raven came to a satisfying end, with the Ravens winning a seventh straight national title.
Kajami-Keane now finds himself in the midst of making the transition from university basketball to the professional level as a member of the Raptors 905, the minor league affiliate of the Toronto Raptors.
After spending his first three years of college playing for both Illinois State and Cleveland State, Kajami-Keane was able to cap his fourth and final year of eligibility by winning the 2017 U Sports national championship with Carleton—along with being named the tournament MVP.
This past summer, Kajami-Keane was able to make the leap to the professional ranks after he was announced as an official member of the Raptors 905 opening night roster. Kajami-Keane now finds himself in the midst of making the difficult transition from being an experienced veteran at Carleton to a rookie in the G-League.
“It’s definitely different, your role can change,” Kajami-Keane said. “I have a different role here than I had at Carleton.”
After earning a local invitation to attend the Raptors 905 training camp, Kajami-Keane spent the next two weeks competing against other invitees through various drills and preseason games. It was an experience that Carleton’s coaching staff and faculty had already mentally prepared him to take on well before he even made his official debut as a Raven.
“Training camp with Carleton was pretty intense,” Kajami-Keane said. “The only thing that may be different is here there’s a little less time to prepare before the games. So with training camp, a lot of information was being pushed towards us but you got to grasp the information pretty quickly.”
For the last decade, Carleton’s basketball program has been known for producing some of the best teams in U Sports basketball history. However, it’s the impact that the program’s head coach, Dave Smart, has had on developing student-athletes for life after basketball that makes him respected among both current and former Ravens players.
“A coach like Dave Smart, playing for him helped me out a lot,” Kajami-Keane said. “He prepared us all to be the person we wanted to be after [we graduated]. He gives you a lot of tools that not a lot of coaches could give you.”
Kajami-Keane has also been able to learn from figures such as Jerry Stackhouse, a former 18-year National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran who now serves as the Raptors 905 head coach. But, it has been from watching fellow players that Kajami-Keane has been able to improve his level of play.
“I’ve been very intrigued by the works of [Lorenzo] Brown,” Kajami-Keane said. “He played in the NBA, got drafted by Minnesota. He’s been up and in the NBA. So I’ve definitely been trying to grasp a lot of information from him since he’s been there at that level for a while.”
Although Canada has been known for quietly producing some of the next young basketball talents in Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Olynyk, and recent Duke University commit, RJ Barrett, it’s the growing fan base that has stolen headlines. The influx of Canadian basketball fans in Toronto has continued to earn national praise for their dedication and deafening atmosphere when visiting teams come to play.
For Kajami-Keane, who was born in Ajax, Ont., the Raptors 905 fanbase has been nothing short of great since making his return back to the Greater Toronto Area.
“They’re very passionate about the sport,” Kajami-Keane said. “The situation there around basketball in Mississauga and Toronto area, you get kids [trying to] become the next professional athlete. The next Andrew Wiggins.”
While the main goal was to always play professionally once he graduated, Kajami-Keane said he eventually hopes he can pursue a career in communication and media studies after he retires from basketball.
Nevertheless, Kajami-Keane would still like to find a way to keep himself in the game he loves. Even if it involves making a move to the sidelines.
“I’d love to get into coaching,” Kajami-Keane said. “I played for a coach like Dave Smart, so I see how much he impacted me and I’d love to help impact other kids.”
With a transition to the pros now underway and his rookie season ahead, Keane has only one message for critics who doubt Canadian basketball players:
“I think they’re going to see that this game is no joke, and [that] there’s a lot of talent coming from [Canada].”
Photo by Meagan Casalino
