Kakou Ange Franck Williams "Angelo" Kouame (born December 15, 1997) is an Ivorian-Filipino

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who last played for the

Meralco Bolts The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of thre ...

in the East Asia Super League. Kouame played college basketball for the

Ateneo Blue Eagles The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the collegiate varsity teams of the Ateneo de Manila University that play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere collegiate league in the Philippines. The Ateneo collegiate ...

of the

University Athletic Association of the Philippines The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univ ...

(UAAP), winning 3 championships with Ateneo and the UAAP MVP award in

UAAP Season 84 UAAP Season 84 was the 2021–22 athletic year of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The Season 84 theme was "Fully Alive, Champions for Life" and the season's host was the De La Salle University. With the limitati ...

. He also represents the Philippines on its national basketball team. He is listed at 6 ft 11 in. (2.11 m)

Early life and education

Kouame was born on December 15, 1997, in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. He was into football during his early childhood until developing interest in basketball when he and his younger brother requested their father for football kits but were instead given basketball jerseys. When his father died in 2012, he started committing on playing basketball as a means to cope for his loss. Koaume played 3-a-side street basketball with his friends and was part of his high school's basketball team, although he remarked that his stint with his school's team was "not that serious" and involved more "practicing". Upon the recommendation of a friend, Kouame moved to the Philippines to study at the Ateneo de Manila University under a student-athlete scholarship. Kouame speaks fluent French (the national language of birth country, Ivory Coast) but did not speak English upon moving to the Philippines. He studied for one year at the Multiple Intelligence International School (MIIS) in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

to develop his English speaking skills that would help him be acquainted with Filipino culture prior to attending Ateneo. He would graduate from Ateneo in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies.

College career

Kouame was able to connect with the

through his Cameroonian friend Aaron Njike who got recruited for a team in the United States. Njike linked Kouame to Ateneo varsity basketball team manager Epok Quimpo for an opportunity to try out for the college varsity team of Ateneo. He was assessed by coaches Yuri Escueta and

Tab Baldwin Thomas Anthony "Tab" Baldwin (born 16 May 1958) is an American-New Zealand basketball coach who currently serves as the head of the Gilas Pilipinas Youth national basketball programme and head coach for the Ateneo Blue Eagles of the University ...

, who was a team consultant for Ateneo at the time. Ateneo decided to have Kouame join the team despite lacking in fundamentals and training. Koaume only learned how to play traditional 5-a-side basketball in the Philippines and had to learn basketball terminologies in English. Despite being a foreign player, Kouame did not have to fulfill a residency requirement, due to him graduating from MIIS in

and debuted for the Ateneo Blue Eagles in

UAAP Season 81 UAAP Season 81 is the 2018–19 athletic year of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). This season is hosted by National University (Philippines), National University. Eight member universities of the UAAP competed in th ...

in 2018. Prior to his UAAP debut, Kouame was part of Glory Be, Ateneo's B team for a year and also featured for the main collegiate team at the SMART City Hoops Basketball Championship, the SMART Breakdown Basketball Invitationals U25 Division, and the FilOil Preseason Cup in 2018. He also took part in Ateneo's campaign in the 2018 William Jones Cup in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, which saw his team finishing as fourth placers. He helped Ateneo clinch two consecutive titles; in

and 82. Following Kouame's granting of Filipino citizenship in May 2021 through a naturalization legislation passed by the Congress, the UAAP board made an agreement that Filipinos who received citizenship through an act of Congress shall still be considered as foreign student athletes (FSAs) in the collegiate league. Kouame stayed two more seasons with Ateneo. In that time he was the Season MVP for Season 84, and despite suffering multiple injuries, was the Finals MVP for Season 85. He also played for Ateneo in the

PBA D-League The PBA D-League, or PBA Developmental League, is the official minor league of the Philippine Basketball Association. History The PBA D-League was conceptualized after the collapse of the proposed merger between the Philippine Basketball Leag ...

Professional career

By May 2021, Koaume who was still in Ateneo at the time has been receiving offers to play for teams in other parts of Asia and in Europe. However he remained with Ateneo for two more UAAP seasons. Kouame joined the

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association owned by Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc. It debuted in the league in the 2006–07 PBA season after acquiring the franchise righ ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA) in 2023. Despite being a naturalized Filipino citizen already by this time, he is still only eligible to play as an import as per league eligibility rules. Instead, he played for the team at the 2023 William Jones Cup where the team was invited as the Philippines' representative. This marked Kouame's return to the Taiwan tournament since 2018. In September 2023,

UB Chartres Métropole Union Basket Chartres Métropole, commonly known as UB Chartres Métropole or UBCM, is a basketball club that is based in the city of Chartres, France. The club currently plays in the Nationale Masculine 1 The Nationale Masculine 1, abbreviate ...

, which plays in the

Nationale Masculine 1 The Nationale Masculine 1, abbreviated as NM1, (English language, English: National Male 1), is the professional sports, professional level French basketball league system, third-tier division of men's club basketball in France. The two top teams ...

, the third tier of French basketball, announced that they had signed Kouame. Kouame suits up for PBA team

in the East Asia Super League for the 2024-25 season. An import under PBA regulations, he is considered as a Filipino under EASL rules filling the naturalized player berth.

National team career

Naturalization

Kouame has been considered for the Philippine national team as early as 2018, following his stint in the 2018 William Jones Cup in Taiwan with Ateneo. However, Kouame would have to obtain

Filipino citizenship Philippine nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Philippines. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines and the 1939 Revised Natural ...

to be eligible. He successfully obtained consent from his mother to obtain Filipino citizenship, despite his mother hesitating initially over concerns that he might lose his Ivorian citizenship. The

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas () or the SBP is the national sport association for basketball in the Philippines, formed from the merging of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) and Pilipinas Basketball (PB). It was formed ...

(SBP) in 2020 began to lobby in the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

for Kouame to be given Filipino citizenship through

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

following his performance in

UAAP Season 82 UAAP Season 82 was the 2019–20 athletic year of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The season was hosted by the Ateneo de Manila University. The eight member universities of the UAAP competed in the league's sixtee ...

which would make him eligible to play for the Philippine national team. Koaume was added to the national team's pool for the November 2020 window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers despite a slim chance for his naturalization process to be completed in time for the Philippines' first match in that window. This was meant to help him get acquainted with the Philippine national team's system. The

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

passed a bill granting Kouame citizenship on February 16, 2021, while the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

passed its version on March 15. The SBP announced on May 18 that President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

had signed Kouame's naturalization bill into law.

Philippine national team

Kouame's eligibility to play for the Philippine national team was confirmed by FIBA in June 2021, a month after he was given Filipino citizenship. He was then included in the Philippines 12-man roster for the third and final round of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers. Kouame debuted for the Philippines in June 16 game against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The Philippines won 81–78 in that game with Kouame contributing 12 points and 6 rebounds. He also played in the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. In 2022, Kouame played against the Jordanian and Saudi Arabian national teams during the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers. Kouame was included in the 21-man pool for the

2023 FIBA World Cup The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 19th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 25 August to 10 September 2023. The tournament was the second to feature 32 teams and was hosted by multipl ...

. However, he was not selected as the Philippines chose

Jordan Clarkson Jordan Taylor Clarkson (born June 7, 1992) is an American and Filipino professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for two seasons with Tulsa before transferring to ...

as its lone naturalized player. He would later become part of the

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

squad which won the gold medal.

Awards and accomplishments

UAAP

* 3×

UAAP The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univer ...

champion (

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

) * UAAP Finals MVP (

) * UAAP Most Valuable Player (

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

) * UAAP Mythical Team (

) * UAAP Rookie of the Year (

)

PCCL

* 2× PCCL champion (

) * PCCL Mythical Five (

)

Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup

* Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup champion (

) * Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup Most Valuable Player (

) * Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup Mythical Five (

)

PBA D-League

champion ( 2019 Aspirants' Cup)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kouame, Ange 1997 births Living people Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Asian Games basketball players for the Philippines Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball players Basketball players at the 2022 Asian Games Centers (basketball) Filipino men's basketball players Filipino people of Ivorian descent Ivorian men's basketball players Ivorian emigrants to the Philippines Naturalised basketball players Naturalized citizens of the Philippines Philippines men's national basketball team players Basketball players from Abidjan UB Chartres Métropole players Filipino expatriate basketball people in France Ivorian expatriate basketball people Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in France Meralco Bolts players 21st-century Filipino sportsmen 21st-century Ivorian sportsmen Asian Games gold medalists in basketball