BY HENRY ABBOTT

Former University of Arizona center Kyryl Natyazhko lives in central Ukraine where he is married with a young son. David Thorpe connected us on Wednesday. “It’s very nice to hear from both of you and even more exciting to hear that David still remembers me,” Kyryl replied. “Brings smile to my face that I didn’t have since this situation started to escalate here in Ukraine.” We made a date to talk Thursday morning.

Kyryl played at IMG Academy in Florida, for Sean Miller at Arizona, for Mike Fratello on the Ukrainian national team, and then in the VTB, a very good league with many Russian players and teams. He’s 6-11 and listed at 270 pounds. David remembers him setting bone-crushing screens, while having the skills of a small forward, even if his coaches didn’t always play him that way. His cousin Kyrylo Fesenko played for the Jazz and the Pacers. 

On Wednesday, the president of Ukraine too…