Chesterton sophomore Bradly Basila’s best friend is 7,000 miles away.
That person is Basila’s mother, Charlyse Mamonekene, who lives in Congo with the rest of his family. He said they talk every day via FaceTime.
“She’s away from my eyes but closer to my heart,” he said.
Basila came to the United States on his own in January 2025 and lives with a host family while he attends school — and plays basketball — at Chesterton. He has taken the move in stride with a simple philosophy.
“Have fun with everything,” he said. “That’s the rule for me right now: Try to have fun. Yeah, work hard when it’s practice, work hard in a game, but enjoy it after.”
Basila appears to be doing just that, enjoying a breakout season on the court. The 6-foot-7 forward is averaging 13.5 points, a team-high 5.5 rebounds and a team-high 1.0 block and is shooting 42% from 3-point range for the Trojans (22-4), who are ranked No. 15 in the coaches poll and will play No. 4 Crown Point (22-1) in the Class 4A Michigan City Regional at 7 p.m. Saturday.
“He spent a lot of time working on his shot, and he’s gotten a lot stronger,” Chesterton coach Marc Urban said. “He’s probably put on at least 20 to 25 pounds. He’s a very strong, very athletic kid. Every place you can try to get better at in basketball, he’s had to work at, and to his credit, he’s gotten a lot better.
“But I still think there’s a lot of growth to be had for him. He’s a really intelligent kid who cares about his growth. He loves feedback. We’ll sit down and watch a lot of film and have conversations about what I think he needs to improve on. That willingness to continue to try and get better is a big key to everything he does.”
Basila, who hopes to play college basketball, agreed with Urban.
“I just want to improve,” he said.
Basila also has interests outside the gym. He said he considers himself “pretty good” at checkers and particularly enjoys drawing, something he has loved to do since he was a kid.
Basila’s teammates have discovered that side of him too.
“He’s one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met off the court, and he also really likes to draw,” Chesterton senior guard/forward Logan Pokorney said. “I didn’t know how good he was at drawing, but he’s very, very good.
“He’s really good at being himself. He’s not afraid to put himself out there, and I really like that about him.”
Urban echoed that sentiment.
“He’s one of the nicest kids you can possibly be around, and he gets along with everybody,” Urban said of Basila. “I’ll walk in the lunchroom, and he’ll be sitting with five kids I might not know or who might be different from the day before. He doesn’t care. He just sits down and enjoys meeting people. He’s just a super nice kid.”
Basila said he thinks he actually needs to be a little meaner on the court, a mentality he admires in his favorite player, Anthony Edwards. Unlocking that edge could prove significant for both Basila and the Trojans.
“I could get more rebounds, block more shots and be more aggressive — and continue to do my job at a high level and play hard,” he said.
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Basila has learned that winter in this part of the world has an edge too.
“When I first arrived at the airport, that was crazy,” he said. “That was the coldest time of my life. I’m pretty used to it now.”
Noah Poser is a freelance reporter.