Top 20-ranked high school basketball small forward Tounde Yessoufou has scheduled an official recruiting visit to Kansas, according to several recruiting services.
Yessoufou, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound small forward from St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, California, will travel to Lawrence Oct. 4-6, he told HS Top Recruits .
Joe Tipton of On3.com also reported that Yessoufou will visit Baylor on Saturday, followed by trips to Tennessee (Sept. 13-15), UConn (Sept. 20-22), Kentucky (Oct. 11-13), UCLA (Oct. 25-27) and Arizona State (Nov. 1-3). He visited Arizona and USC earlier this summer and also has Washington as one of his 10 finalists.
Yessoufou is ranked No. 17 in the recruiting class of 2025 by Rivals,com, No. 19 by ESPN.com and No. 27 by 247sports.com.
He averaged 32.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.1 assists per game last season at St. Joseph High. He hit 57.5% of his shots. He averaged 21.8 points per game at the summer season-ending Peach Jam AAU Tournament.
Some recruiting analysts have said Kentucky, Tennessee and USC may be the leaders in the race for his services.
“I will not answer that, but I will say this. I don’t think there are favorites. All of them are great,” Yessoufou told kentucky.rivals.com . “For me, it is more about personality and how I fit in. All of this recruiting process is fun, but it is more about where you feel at comfortable, and you fit in as a family.
“For me really there is no favorite, because they all have a style of playing.”
Yessoufou commented on his interest in KU to Zagsblog.com, saying: “Everybody loves the Jayhawks out there. I hear it’s a great campus and great atmosphere to be in. I’m looking forward to doing the visit with them.”
Of Yessoufou, Rob Cassidy of Rivals.com wrote: “Few players get downhill like the explosive and muscled-up Yessoufou who is a certified weapon in transition and coming off screens. So while he has work left to do on his long-range jumper, he’s become a dominant force in most other aspects of the game.”
Yessoufou is new to the game of basketball. A native of Benin, West Africa, which is next to Nigeria, he moved to the United States three years ago.
“Nobody in my family ever played basketball,” he told Zagsblog.com. “I just saw it and then I loved it and decided to put my heart into it.”
Of his game, he told Zagsblog.com : “I can attack the basket and bring power on offense and defense. Basically anything the coaches want me to do, I’ll do it. I can shoot it a little bit, but my main thing is getting other teams in foul trouble.”
Several prospects to visit KU
KU has scheduled several official visits with prospects in the class of 2025.
Slated to visit Thursday through Saturday are: Eric Reibe, a 7-0, 230-pound center from Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland and London Jemison, a 6-8, 170 small forward from St. Thomas More in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Originally from Germany, Reibe is ranked No. 25 in the recruiting class of 2025 by ESPN.com, No. 45 by 247Sports.com and No. 66 by Rivals.com. Jemison is ranked No. 48 by ESPN.com; No. 51 by Rivals.com and No. 94 by 247Sports.com.
• A.J. Dybantsa, a 6-9, 200 forward from Utah Prep Academy in Manti, Utah, is slated to visit KU on Sept. 6-8. He is ranked No. 1 nationally by ESPN.com, Rivals.com and 247sports.com.
• Two players, Isaiah Denis and Jalen Haralson are scheduled to visit for the Oct. 18 Late Night in the Phog weekend. Haralson, a 6-7, 205 forward from La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana, is ranked No. 7 by Rivals.com, No. 9 by ESPN.com and No. 13 by 247sports.com. Denis, a 6-5, 170 combo guard from Davidson (North Carolina) High School, is ranked No. 41 by 247Sports.com, No. 94 by ESPN.com and No. 100 by Rivals.com.
• Sebastian Williams-Adams, a 6-7, 235 small forward from Saint John’s High School in Houston, is ticketed to visit KU on Sept 13-15. He is ranked No. 33 by Rivals.com and 247Sports.com and No. 42 by ESPN.com.
• Hudson Greer, a 6-7, 190 small forward who formerly played at Lake Travis High in Austin, Texas, and is currently slated to attend Montverde (Florida) Academy during the upcoming school year, will visit KU from Nov. 1-3. He is ranked No. 21 in his class by ESPN.com, No. 32 by Rivals.com and No. 36 by 247sports.com.
• The country’s consensus No. 3 prospect, Darryn Peterson, has already visited KU. The 6-5, 195 combo guard from Huntington Prep in West Virginia, also has visited Kentucky and USC. He’s slated to visit Ohio State this weekend. He also wants to visit K-State, Washington, Arizona State and Louisville.
• KU also is planning on setting up a visit date for Niko Bundalo, 6-10, 215 formerly of Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio headed to Prolific Prep in California. He is ranked No. 24 by ESPN.com and 247sports.com and No. 37 by Rivals.com
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