Coach Todd Wolfson welcomes 7-foot-3 Sharif Milogo to St. Francis

Wearing size 17 shoes and standing 7-foot-3, Sharif Milogo stands under the basket, raising his arms and touching the rim without leaving the floor. The rest of the “little” people in the gym at St. Francis High stare in awe at his 7-9 wingspan.

That includes 6-8 coach Todd Wolfson, who twice won the basketball coaching lottery with his 7-foot sophomore appearance out of nowhere. The first was 7-0 for Belgian exchange student Gilles Diericks when he coached at Chaminade in 2017.

This time, Wolfson received a phone call from a St. Francis official in August.

“There’s a 7-3 kid who wants to come to St. Francis,” the official said.

“I thought he was lying,” Wolfson said.

Milojo did not play last season while attending Cambridge Academy of Arts, Technology and Science in Boston after tearing a knee ligament. He’s from the small West African country of Burkina Faso. He was a soccer player until he experienced a growth spurt, participated in a basketball camp and was seen playing in Togo, a country bordering Ghana. He ended up moving to Florida two years ago. He said he learned how to shoot a basketball by watching YouTube videos of Kevin Durant.

He speaks French, English and two tribal languages. He has an older brother who is 7 feet tall and his father is 6-8 years old. He turned 18 on September 27, meaning he has two years of high school eligibility remaining. His guardian is former UCLA and NBA player Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who came here from Cameroon.

Milogo was immediately embraced around St. Francis because of his charismatic and friendly personality. During practice, while listening in a circle around Wolfson, he would put his arms around his teammate as if they were lifelong friends.

“He made me a better person,” Wolfson said. “Amazing value.”

Milogo said his parents taught him to be respectful and friendly.

“For me, this is normal,” he added.

Sophomore guard Luke Paulus said the players were as surprised as Wolfson when they learned of Milojo’s arrival.

“No way,” he said when he heard about the rumours. “I saw him on the first day of school. Wow, that’s a great human being.” He’s a fun guy.”

Milogo, who is Muslim, said attending a Catholic school was good. “I’m learning about new religions,” he said.

He can also show his football skills if asked to do so by playing with the ball with his feet.

Millogo joins a Mission League already loaded with talent with the No. 1 prospect for 2026, Tyran Stokes from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, and top five prospect for 2026, Brandon McCoy from Sierra Canyon.

Milogo was asked if he was aware of Stokes and McCoy.

“From social media,” he said.

Do you see what having an Instagram account can do to promote your high school basketball program? He said he saw a social media post of St. Francis students cheering during a game.

To say there might be a lot of alley-oop passes this season for St. Francis might be an understatement. Wolfson, who used a zone defense at times during his coaching days, wonders how he will return with Milojo in the middle. He’s already planning some new out-of-bounds plays trying to capitalize on Milogo’s rise.

Millogo looks like a sold-out shooter and shot blocker. Then there’s the easy dipping. He had nine dunks last weekend in a fall league game in which he scored 32 points. In the previous game, he had 24 points, including five dunks. He should be eligible immediately next month when the season officially begins based on the fact that he did not play last season, but St. Francis has yet to submit his transfer papers.

One thing is for sure: St. Francis’ student section and many other fans will enjoy watching Milojo throw down dunk after dunk.