Mfiondu Kabengele

Mfiondu Tshimanga Kabengele was born in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, to Tshilongo and Tshimanga Kabengele in 1997. His parents are originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but later moved to Canada, where Kabengele grew up. Kabengele's uncle is Dikembe Mutombo, a Hall of Famer who played in the NBA for 18 seasons. Kabengele attended high school at the Corpus Christi Catholic Secondary School in Burlington before transferring to the Bosco Institute in Crown Point, Indiana. He then went to college and played basketball at Florida State. He attended the NBA Draft wearing a suit jacket on which each of his teammates' names was stitched. Learn more about Kabengele by following him on Twitter (@Mfiondu) and Instagram (@mfiondu). Despite never starting a game for Florida State, Kabengale made an impact. The 6-foot-10 forward redshirted for the 2016-17 season. When he returned to the active roster, he scored in double digits in four of his first five games, including a 16-point, 12-rebound effort against Citadel. That performance was one of his two double-doubles, with the second coming in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Missouri. On the season, Kabengale averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 14.8 minutes. He received more minutes (21.6) as a sophomore and his production increased. The nephew of Dikembe Mutumbo averaged 13.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. The big man also hit 36.9 percent of his three-point attempts. He had 24 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Duke. Kabengale saved his best performances for the Big Dance. He had back-to-back 20-point games in wins over Vermont and Murray State. After his sophomore season, Kabengale declared for the 2019 NBA Draft. He was chosen 27th overall by the Brooklyn Nets and immediately traded to the Clippers.