Photo by Benjamin R Massey/Ragin Cajun Athletics
When you first move to South Louisiana, it can sometimes be hard to understand the thick Cajun accent and dialect that this community possesses.
Hosana Kitenge certainly knows that firsthand.
“Even in the locker room sometimes I have to pay close attention to what my Louisiana teammates are saying,” Kitenge said. “Joe (Charles) and Brandon Hardy and some dudes that sometimes I have to say ‘what?’ But it’s a two-way street. They sometimes don’t understand what I’m trying to say so but it’s always love and it’s always funny when situations like that happen.”
Kitenge, a big-bodied forward who was playing at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, struggled at first to get acclimated to his new program and teammates. The 6-foot-8 Kitenge grew up in Crawley, England, in the southern part of the country near Brighton.
However, over the last nine games, he’s been an offensive difference-maker for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns men’s basketball team.
“The first four or five games, honestly, I was a bit worried,” Kitenge said. “I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to contribute as much as I wanted to. In those first couple of games, I felt like I was disappointing the coaching staff, letting down my teammates, and more importantly, letting down myself. I didn’t think I started the season off as aggressive or as confident as I should have been.”
Since that game with the Cowboys on December 17, Kitenge has averaged 14.3 points per game for the Cajuns, including a career-high 25 on the road at Arkansas State on January 13, and then scored 13 on a very efficient 5-of-7 shooting from the field in Friday’s 81-75 win over Arkansas State inside the Cajundome.
However, one could wonder: what happened in Lake Charles that led Kitenge to this level of play?
“Yeah, it’s actually ironic,” Kitenge said. “It was my birthday. So I just felt a lot more confident putting the ball in the basket. Coaches trusted me that game and yeah, I just went into that game with a different approach. I just went in there trying to come out of the gate with no regrets.”
“It was just a testimony to once again, the coaching staff and my teammates trusting and believing in me and I credit my hard work too.”
Kitenge’s hard work and performance haven’t gone unnoticed by his teammates and coaching staff.
Bob Marlin talked about an interaction that took place over the weekend with a Cajuns basketball supporter where the majority of the conversation centered around Kitenge’s progress and how it appeared that he got better and better each game.
Even with the recent success, the powerful forward is never satisfied.
“I didn’t have any expectations of myself,” Kitenge said. “I just have this standard that I have with myself that I believe that I can play every game, and where I’m at right now is I feel like I’m doing well. Coach (Marlin) and I talked about never being satisfied and he expects me to take my game to another level from here and I told him I’m not comfortable, I’m not satisfied. So we just look at our next game and expect me to have a similar production if not better.”
One of the more vocal leaders on this 2023-2024 Cajuns team, Kitenge knows how important it is to have multiple contributors in order to be successful.
“It’s great to know that on any given night can be any of us,” Kitenge pointed out when speaking of himself, Joe Charles, and Kobe Julien. “A guy that’s not been mentioned is Kentrell Garnett. The shot that he hit at South Alabama to put the game away was just huge. Sometimes, people don’t realize that’s what Kentrell does. He’s silent and he’s productive. We’re nothing without a whole team. But for the big three to go out there and do that job every single night, it’s just a testimony to the rest of the guys. You can’t be a team without the rest. We only have eight guys so the rest of the five guys are just as important as the top three guys. So credit to everyone stepping up and doing their jobs and fulfilling their roles on and off the court.”
Despite the success he’s had, Kitenge knows what the end goal is for this team. The Cajuns have had a depth issue at times this season, going only eight players deep. So a concern of having enough stamina to get across the finish line in March is certainly there.
“We haven’t spoken about it much as a collective,” Kitenge said. “However, when you have a guy who’s leading the conference in points, it gives you a lot of confidence knowing what he brings every night. And then you have Themus (Fulks) who was an all-first team guy at the beginning of the year, we have experience with Kentrell Garnett, Joe Charles, myself. We’re less worried about how we can handle it compared to how teams are gonna be able to handle our pressure for 40 minutes. That’s what we’re seeing a lot of people not being able to play the pace that we can, but we practice hard enough, we go hard enough. All of our hearts are in the right place and we want to be hanging banners at the end of this in March.”
Kitenge and the Cajuns host Texas State at the Cajundome on Sunday. Tip-off is set for noon.