It’s official, Mo Bamba has selected the University of Texas. The five star big man picked the Longhorns over Duke, Kentucky and Michigan.
We now update our story on Bamba from March 28th, from McDonald’s All-American Game Media Day, in which we indicated that Texas was indeed the front-runner.
It's a GREAT morning in Austin! It's OFFICIAL. Welcome to the #TexasFamily Mo Bamba!! #HookEm pic.twitter.com/9ee4Mk29pf
— Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) May 18, 2017
As of now (McDonald’s All-American Game Media Day), Shaka Smart and Texas are supposedly leading the way in the race to sign him. Of course, the Crystal Ball predictions tell a very different story, but we all know how hit or miss those things can be.
ESPN ranks Mo Bamba #5 overall, 24/7 Sports has him third nationally while Scout places him second fifth. While he is a HUGE get for whoever lands him, he also has one-and-done written all over him as Draft Express have him slotted fourth and NBA Draft Room have him going #23 overall in their 2018 NBA mock drafts.
NBA Draft.net has him projected the sixth overall pick.
Yesterday was McDonald’s All-American Game Media Day and given the credentials listed above, it’s easy to see why there were lots of media hordes engulfing Bamba all day. You can watch him tonight in the McDonald’s All-American Game on ESPN at 6pm central.
Yesterday was also the 25th anniversary of Christian Laettner’s “the shot,” which got Duke a 104-103 buzzer-beater win over Kentucky in the East Regional final. now known as “The Shot.” You’ve seen the replay a zillion times, Grant Hill launches a full-court heave to Laettner at the top of the key, who turns around and nails the Final Four clinching game winner as time expires in the Philadelphia Spectrum.
A quarter-century later, on a day where Mo Bamba is being heavily recruited by both teams that played in that historic game, Bamba discusses The Shot in the audio file below:
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/mohamed-bamba-at-mcdonalds-all-american-game-media-day
The 6’11” center from West Chester, Pennsylvania, whose game has been compared to Thon Maker, had some other excellent quotes you should hear in the interview linked above as well.
“There’s a difference between greed and hunger,” as Mo Bamba put it.
As for more on the decision that’s ahead of him, here’s a link to a great Mo Bamba piece, via A Sea of Blue, the Kentucky community on SB Nation.
Bamba also made it clear that he’s still not leaning in any particular direction yet.
“People always ask me like, ‘When are you going to announce? When are you going to announce?’ Assuming I know what school I’m going to go to and I’m like, ‘Yo I got to figure out what school I want to go to first,’” Bamba said.
He went on to say that there’s no way he could make a decision today if he he had to.
“Honestly, I couldn’t. I would second guess it and honestly I think I can see myself at any four of these places and that’s why it’s really hard. Like it’s really crazy, it’s a great process to be a part of but like I can see where some guys see it and like it can be a little bit stressful but it’s still a blessing… I can honestly say I can see myself at any four of these places.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com, Chicago Tribune.com and Bold, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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