Editor's note: This story has been updated following the New York Knicks' selection of Ntilikina with the No. 8 overall pick.
If you walked into the Strasbourg gym before a practice, chances are you'd hear Frank Ntilikina, already on the floor.
"It was kind of a funny thing. We'd walk in the locker room to get ready to practice and you'd hear someone working. We'd already know who it was before we got on the court," said A.J. Slaughter, Ntilikina's teammate on SIG Strasbourg of the LNB Pro A, France's top men's professional league.
"We'd say, 'Man, that's Frank.'"
Ntilikina, the highly regarded 18-year-old prospect from France, had been on the radar of most NBA decision-makers for the past 12 months. The 6-foot-5 guard with a 7-foot wingspan was taken No. 8 overall by the New York Knicks in Thursday night's NBA draft.
While he may be a mystery to most casual NBA fans, Ntilikina is already well known in his home country. "Frank Ntilikina, clone de Tony Parker?" asked one recent article in the French publication L'Equipe. Any comparison to Parker -- the four-time NBA champion and the 28th overall pick in 2001, is premature for a player who hasn't even suited up in an NBA Summer League game yet. But those around Ntilikina believe he has the physical tools, drive and intellect to one day be in the same conversation as his point guard countryman.
"He shows us flashes that he can be a really good player and he has the talent," Slaughter says. "He just needs to get in the NBA and get in a system and work with the coaches and on his body. The sky's the limit for him."
With the Knicks, Ntilikina will get the opportunity to live the NBA life. Just how he got to this point, though, is a testament to the will of his family and the singular focus that talent evaluators say is increasingly rare among today's young players.
Ntilikina was born in Belgium in 1998. His family had moved there from Rwanda a few years before his birth. The country had been plagued by a civil war and the atrocities of the Rwandan genocide, and Ntilikina says his mother, Jacqueline Mukarugema, left for Belgium with his two brothers in search of a better life.
"They just had to go," Ntilikina says.
They found a safe haven in Belguim, and later, in Strasbourg, France. Mukarugema placed a strong emphasis on education and hard work in her household, something that shaped Ntilikina and stays with him today.
"We know what we have been through and we know we have to work to make it a better situation," Ntilikina says. "My mom and my brothers have been through some difficult things back in Africa. They always told me that nothing was given and when you come [this] far, you know what you have and that you realize that they have the chance to be alive. They have the chance to be alive and I have the chance to be alive so we have to work.
"I realized then that you have to work to achieve your goals."
Ntilikina's two older brothers, Yves and Brice, followed that doctrine closely. Yves is a back surgeon and Brice is a physical therapist with his own practice in Strasbourg.
"Frank's mother always talked about education, humility, hard work and respect," says Olivier Mazet, Ntilikina's agent in France (Ntilikina is represented by CAA's Leon Rose in the United States). Those closest to Ntilikina say he also took those lessons to heart.
His teammates say he has a basketball IQ that is far greater than what's expected of a player his age. And he takes his education seriously, earning high marks despite being on the road so frequently with Strasbourg.
"He graduated last year almost without going to school," Mazet says.
Ntilikina is also relatively quiet and respectful around his Strasbourg teammates -- traits that were also emphasized early on by his mother.
"He's calm, cool, very laid-back. Doesn't get rattled easily. He's very chill," says teammate Romeo Travis.
That attitude belies Ntilikina's intense approach to his craft, though. He's very much a student of the game, according to Chris Brickley, who will be Ntilikina's personal trainer in the NBA.
Brickley, a former player development coordinator with the Knicks, sent Ntilikina videos in recent weeks of full quarters of playoff games in which the guard play was strong. Brickley asked Ntilikina what he thought the guards did well and struggled with. Ntilikina surprised him by sending back detailed responses -- sometimes five paragraphs long -- noting intricacies like changes of pace or pick-and-roll approaches.
"It just showed his passion and knowledge of the game," Brickley said.
It's those characteristics that have led NBA decision-makers to Strasbourg over the past year.
Many NBA teams did their homework on Ntilikina, watching closely during a season in which he averaged 5.3 points, 1.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game for a Strasbourg team that is still in the middle of the French League championship series (Ntilikina will head back to France for Game 5 after getting drafted).
While those statistics may look underwhelming, there are several factors to consider: Ntilikina is a teenager playing against grown men, and he splits time at point guard with veteran Erving Walker. Strasbourg's offense is designed to be an equal-opportunity attack, based on ball movement and spacing.
"If he was on a different team, he would definitely average more points, because right now he's only playing 20 minutes," Travis says. "Those guys in college, they're playing 30-plus minutes, they're getting any shot they want. That's not how we play.
"Coach wants our guards to play structured and controlled -- that's what Frank does."
Teammates also say Ntilikina has grown into a vocal leader on the court, unafraid of telling teammates 10 years his senior when they've made a mistake.
"[Ntilikina] knows how to run a team, how to deal with people in terms of ego and in terms of leadership," Mazet says, describing traits that could be vital for life in the NBA.
Also, NBA evaluators aren't drafting Ntilikina based solely on his production this season. Potential is everything when it comes to draft time.
His frame and athleticism have led scouts to project him as a potential lock-down perimeter defender. Some NBA decision-makers believe his jump shot mechanics can translate well and that he has the potential to be a productive two-way player -- something every team covets.
"He has a great body for his position and strong wingspan, and his footwork allows him to cover space on defense," says Elan Vinokurov, president and owner of EV Hoops, a basketball scouting and consulting service.
Vinokurov, who's been watching Ntilikina since the player was 15, says that Ntilikina will need to learn how to play with sustained intensity to succeed at the next level, but other areas of improvement, such as finishing at the rim and shooting off of the dribble, should improve with repetition.
His Strasbourg teammates agree.
"I just think he needs to play more -- time will show that he has all the tools. I believe that he has all the tools to be great," Travis says.
Ntilikina expects to take full advantage.
"I'm good now, but I know that I have to develop my body and develop my skills to dominate," he says. "I'm looking forward to my chance."