KNOXVILLE - It didn't take long for Ray Kasongo and Kyle Alexander to realize they weren't in Canada anymore.
All the two Tennessee basketball newcomers needed were a few ventures out into Knoxville's oppressive heat and humidity this month.
"The heat," the 6-foot-10 Alexander replied when asked following his Rocky Top Summer League debut earlier this month what his biggest adjustment was since joining the Vols. "Canada is cold. It's hot here."
For a roster badly in need of quality size following the transfers of Tariq Owens (St. John's) and Willie Carmichael (Western Kentucky), Alexander and the 6-9 Kasongo were essential additions for first-year Volunteers coach Rick Barnes and his staff.
It's only a coincidence they're both from Toronto.
Unlike Alexander, though, Kasongo has been playing in the United States for a few years. He graduated from Pikeville High School in Kentucky, where he averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds and 5.5 blocked shots a game as a senior, in 2013 and spent the following academic year at the Phase 1 Academy in Phoenix.
He signed with Oregon but wound up at the College of Southern Idaho after he was denied admission into the Pac-12 school late last July.
"At first, it was kind of tough on me personally," he said. "Obviously you want to play at the D-I level instead of going to juco. I looked at it in a positive way, as in I'm going to go in there, get right, get better and learn as much as I can in order to go into the next level and have a good impact."
Kasongo played just 15.6 minutes per game and averaged 6.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in his lone season at the Twin Falls junior college, but he remained a coveted option for programs looking for late additions for next season.
Barnes and top assistant Rob Lanier were recruiting him to Texas, and Kasongo, who is fluent in French, took an official visit to Mississippi State before ultimately signing with the Vols.
"Coach Barnes and Coach Lanier, they're what I like to call vets, veteran coaches," he said. "They've been doing it for so long. They've done a lot of good things with getting Canadian players to the (NBA) and all that. I was looking at it that way, like if I go to him, he's going to get me better and get me where I'd like to hopefully be.
"When they went to Tennessee, he just told me the opportunity here was a lot bigger to come here and possibly play right away. I thought it was a good fit. That is why I decided to come here."
Though they're both first-year players, Kasongo is a year older than Alexander, and that much was clear when the two guarded each other in their summer-league meeting.
"He's very physical," Alexander said. "He's a big guy. He's made me realize I've got to get into the weight room a bit more and build some mass."
At first glance, Alexander looks like he could be a clone of Owens, the rail-thin freshman who was forced into action as a freshman last season though he needed a redshirt year to add weight and strength, and he's even wearing the same number as Owens (11) for his summer-league team.
The 205-pound Alexander, who's hoping to get up to 235 for his freshman season, is a smoother athlete, though, and at this early stage he moves much better than Owens.
The Orangeville Prep product is a tenacious rebounder and uses his length to block shots and keep rebounds alive.
"I haven't been playing basketball that long, so my offensive game isn't really there 100 percent yet," Alexander said. "I usually try to get most of my points off of battling for offensive boards. I like to think of myself as the person who wants the ball most when the shot's coming off the rim, so I always try to go after those and get most of my points."
Not surprisingly, Alexander grew up playing hockey and also played soccer and volleyball until he decided to give basketball a shot his sophomore year of high school.
His older sister, Kayla, is Syracuse's all-time scoring and blocked-shots leader and now plays for the San Antonio Stars in the WNBA, and his father, Joseph, played collegiately at Niagara, where he scored more than 1,200 points in the 1980s.
"He wanted (basketball) to be something that I loved," Alexander said. "He told me that when I turned a certain age I was going to like it. Eventually it was taking too long and he told me I wasn't using my height or my athleticism, so he just put me into a training camp. I love it now. I'm glad that my dad put me into it."
Kasongo and Alexander putting themselves into the East Tennessee heat, though, is a different story.
"It's really, really hot," Kasongo said, "and I'm not used to this at all."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com