Jonathan Kuminga Glad to See Coach K Speak Out For Social Justice

Top recruit looking for potential coach to speak out for what's right

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski released a video supporting Black Lives Matter last month. While Coach K’s comments may not have been accepted by everyone that saw them, there was one high-profile viewer who was glad to see them.

Jonathan Kuminga, the top-rated prospect in the nation, was looking for a coach who was willing to speak out for what he thought was right.

The 6-foot-8, 205-pound small forward was a member of the class of 2021 but went through his school’s graduation ceremony and is believed to be reclassifying to 2020. He’s chosen four colleges as his finalists—Duke, Kentucky, Auburn and Texas Tech—with a fifth option being a direct path to the NBA G-League out of high school.

All four of his college coaches spoke out against police mistreatment of minorities and in favor of Black Lives Matter.

Kuminga told Sports Illustrated All-American that was something he “needed to see.”

“That was super important,” Kuminga told SI. “I see that they’re not just there being coaches. They really care about pretty much everything that’s going on. I was happy seeing that. I was happy seeing all the coaches stand up and speak out to everybody.”

It’s something Kuminga has also done since coming to the U.S. in 2016 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

While growing up in the African nation, he saw plenty of violence and injustice.

“Where I come from its really worse than America,” he said. “Really super worse. They kill people every single day. People die every single day. It’s not like out here.”

Since coming to America, he’s tried to be a voice for justice. He tweeted support of BLM, saying, “As a kid who grew up in Africa, I experienced a lot of atrocities that the media never show & never will. But as a young man now I am determined to stand up against any type of prejudice, discrimination & racism that we still experience everywhere in the world.”

Finding his voice for justice has been part of adjusting to life in America, he said.

“Coming to this country you’ve got to really speak up for people that live out here too,” he said. “I live out here now. I consider myself a kid that lives in America. Speaking out—a lot of people look up to me, so speaking up is really going to help a lot of people. A lot of people will be happy, and they’ll feel like they’ve got someone there for them all the time that will really want to help the country and help everybody.”