15 years old, 2.29 meters tall: Meet the heir to Victor Wembanyama
Canadian giant Jérémy Gohier has moved to Nanterre, where the French star grew up, and declares without fear: "I want to play like him, shoot like him, and be better than him." The unusual story, the inevitable comparisons, and the potential that intrigues scouts.
He is only 15 years old, stands at an incredible height of 2.29 meters, has already become a star on social media — and is now taking the most significant step in his young career. Jérémy Gohier, one of the most intriguing and unusual prospects in world basketball, is leaving Canada and moving to France, where he will join the development department of Nanterre 92. Yes, the same Nanterre where Victor Wembanyama also began his path in top-tier basketball.
Almost inevitably, the comparisons have already begun. Videos of the Canadian giant are circulating online, showing a teenager who stands almost a full head above some of his opponents, dunking with ease, and using his exceptional dimensions on both sides of the court. One of his videos has garnered more than 3.5 million views, and the nickname "Wemby stopper" has already been given to him by fans.
However, Gohier himself does not really want to be the "next Wemby." His youth coach, Daniel Mulumba, told the New York Post that the young player wants to "be the next Jérémy Gohier" and create his own path. This does not mean he lacks ambition. Gohier has already admitted that he sees Wembanyama as a kind of imaginary rival against whom he compares himself.
"I want to play like him, I want to shoot like him, I want to be better than him," he said recently. "Last year, I started creating a competition in my head: me against him."
The resemblance to Wembanyama is clear primarily due to physical data, but people around Gohier also point to the differences. According to his agent, Jérémy Medjana — who also represents Wembanyama — Gohier has added about 18 kg of muscle mass in the last year. Already at 15, he is significantly heavier than Wembanyama was at the same age, and he himself believes that in the future, physicality could become one of his advantages.
His story is also unusual in terms of growth rate. According to articles about him from recent months, Gohier was 1.20 meters tall at age two, reached 1.70 meters at age nine, and 2.21 meters at age 13 (!). His parents, by the way, are not extremely tall: his father is 1.83 meters and his mother is 1.70 meters, although in the extended family there are relatives who approach or even exceed two meters.
The unusual height was not always a blessing for him. In the past, Gohier admitted that the looks he attracts everywhere he goes can be burdensome. "Every time I go somewhere, everyone looks at me," he said. "Sometimes I wish I were 1.80 meters tall. Sometimes I just want to disappear, but I prefer to be my height and play basketball."
Between the ages of nine and 12, Mulumba said, the emphasis was on agility, footwork, and coordination rather than basketball itself. One of the surprising tools that helped him was boxing. "Boxing changed the game for him," the coach said. "When he started working on footwork through boxing, he began to understand much better how to control his body and space."
Like Wemby, this next one does not want to be a classic center who waits for the ball under the basket. Despite his dimensions, he often prefers to play further from the rim, dribble, and shoot from the outside. According to him, he feels comfortable even in forward positions, and those around him say he aspires to be able to play all five positions.
"He doesn't want people to see him only as a 2.31-meter player," Mulumba explained. "He wants to shoot, dribble, and play from position one to five."
However, the road to turning potential into reality is still very long. At the U17 World Championship, where he played despite being significantly younger than most of his opponents, Gohier received a little over 11 minutes per game and responded with 2.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per evening. His best game was against Puerto Rico, with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in 21 minutes.
In the United States, they were quick to mention his name as a candidate for the 2029 NBA draft, but admitted that for now, he is an "uncut diamond." That is exactly why the move to Nanterre is happening. The French club is considered an excellent environment for developing young players, and Gohier will have access to a professional support system of fitness coaches, medical staff, nutritionists, and basketball coaches. According to Mulumba, Gohier had offers from several top schools in the United States, but none of them could offer him at this stage the development environment that Nanterre offers.
The connection to Wembanyama will only increase the attention. The French star grew up in the Nanterre system before becoming one of the greatest players in the world, and last March he even became a shareholder in the club. For Gohier, choosing the same path almost invites the comparisons he is trying to move away from.
In the long run, his plan still includes the United States. Gohier is interested in playing college basketball in the future, partly to, in his words, "compare himself to the Americans." He also has a particularly unusual mentor: Olivier Rioux, the Canadian giant who stands at about 2.36 meters. The two train together, and Rioux and his family help the Gohier family deal with the attention online and with the complex path that leads to college basketball.
