John Calipari took a visit to watch 5-star C Flory Bidunga on Saturday
Flory Bidunga‘s team didn’t come away with a title, but the five-star center put on a show in front of a slew of college coaches.
On Saturday, during the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s (IHSAA) Class 4A state championship game, Bidunga was the center of attention for Kokomo High School (24-4). Considered the No. 3 overall prospect from the class of 2024 by the On3 Consensus, the 6-foot-9 center finished with 19 points on 9-12 shooting, 11 rebounds, and five blocks in a 53-41 loss to Ben Davis High School (32-0).
Some of the biggest names in coaching made the trip to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to check out Bidunga. Most notably, Kentucky head coach John Calipari and associate coach Orlando Antigua were in attendance to watch the talented big man. While Kokomo couldn’t come away with the championship trophy in the end, Bidunga showed exactly why he’s considered one of the best high school prospects in the entire country — regardless of class.
Just watch some of these highlights…
Calipari and Antigua were hardly the only high-profile faces there to watch Bidunga perform. Head coaches from Purdue (Matt Painter), Auburn (Bruce Pearl), Michigan (Juwan Howard), and Michigan State (Tom Izzo) were also patrolling the sidelines.
This wasn’t the first time members of the UK coaching staff have watched him play, either. Bidunga is one of a handful of ’24 prospects with a legitimate scholarship offer from the Wildcats, which he earned back in October. He has yet to take a visit to Lexington, although KSR’s Jack Pilgrim reports that one is “still in the works”.
So far, Bidunga has taken two official visits to Auburn and Florida, along with unofficial trips to the likes of 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 earlier this month.
Flory Bidunga Scouting Report
On3’s National Recruiting Analyst, Jamie Shaw: 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.
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