John Calipari, Kentucky assistants check in on 5-star C Flory Bidunga
Kentucky brought the entire squad to check out one of its top recruiting targets.
According to KSR’s Jack Pilgrim, Kentucky head coach John Calipari, along with assistants Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman, traveled to Indiana on Friday to meet with five-star class of 2024 center, Flory Bidunga. Pilgrim also reports that Bidunga, who holds an official scholarship offer from the Wildcats, is looking to schedule a visit to UK in June with a potential decision coming ahead of the upcoming school year.
Bidunga, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound big man who plays for Kokomo (IN) High School, is considered the No. 3 overall junior prospect, per the On3 Consensus. The Democratic Republic of the Congo native recently took an unofficial visit to Florida and also expects to visit Kansas in the coming months.
This is the second time in less than a month that Calipari has made a trip to see Bidunga, doing so in late March. Antigua also joined Calipari for that trip where they watched Bidunga record 19 points on 9-12 shooting, 11 rebounds, and five blocks in a 53-41 loss to undefeated Ben Davis High School in the state championship. UK also visited Bidunga in December.
So far, Bidunga has taken two official visits to Auburn and Florida, along with unofficial trips to the likes of Florida, Cincinnati, Purdue, Indiana, Butler, Michigan, and Michigan State. All of those schools have extended offers, as have Louisville, Kansas, Wake Forest, Creighton, Butler, and several others.
Throughout his junior season at Kokomo, Bidunga averaged 20.2 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks per outing while shooting an insane 81 percent from the floor. He was tabbed as the Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year last month.
Flory Bidunga Scouting Report
“Flory Bidunga is a physical specimen. At 6-foot-10, he has long arms, broad shoulders, and a lot of burst. He is an excellent shot-blocker, both on the ball and from the weak side. He has natural timing and can get up to the square quickly, even through contact. Bidunga runs the floor quickly and purposefully. He can push the break with his handle but does not get too deep and out of control. The jump shot extends out to about 10 feet, so we would like to see him work on stretching that out some. But he has touch as a roll man to finish with floaters and short corner jumpers. He needs to improve his free throws as he gets to the line a lot. Offensively, Bidunga has a good IQ; he is smart in dribble hand-offs and can post wide and deep on the block. If help comes, he is able to find the open man and deliver a good pass. He is a good offensive rebounder. Bidunga is left-hand reliant, but his IQ and explosion allow him to get away with that for now. Physically, he is like a college upperclassman and is already one of the premier explosive athletes in high school basketball.” — On3’s National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw
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