"Kayode Vann is not an easy person to track down," wrote the New York Times in 1988. "In the fall and winter he's likely to be playing basketball as a star for the Berkeley-Carroll Street School in Brooklyn, unless, of course, he's pushing pawns with the private school's chess club, conducting meetings as the president of the student council or honing his fencing skills with a neighborhood friend."

The son of Grammy-award winning composer Teddy Vann, Kayode Vann came to athletics later in his childhood, as he spent seven years as a child actor, appearing on PBS' "Sesame Street" in the late 1970's and early 1980's. He distinguished himself on the court at Berkeley-Carroll, where he averaged 32 points per game at the small independent school.

Vann received interest to walk on to play basketball at some Ivy league schools, but took the opportunity at Georgetown instead. He played in 14 games over three seasons.