NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing 5-star center Adem Bona top 7 teams

Baylor Bears

The national champion program has a pair of solid centers in Flo Thamba and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua on the roster but realistically, could use an upgrade if they’re going to be a Final Four contender on a consistent level. The developmental history of the coaching staff would be highly beneficial for someone like Bona and his skillset fits what Baylor likes with its big men.

How realistic of a shot do the Bears have? It’ll depend on what happens with two other five-star center targets, Vince Iwuchukwu and Ernest Udeh Jr. I don’t know if the Big 12 program can land any of the three but until the others make their decision, I’m not sure how much of a current priority Bona is for the Bears at this moment.

Kansas Jayhawks

With David McCormack entering his senior season, the Jayhawks are going to be looking for a starting-caliber center in the 2022 class. But they do already have a top-50 big man recruit in  Zuby Ejiofor, who doesn’t have the ceiling that Bona does but could be just as impactful in the college game.

Even still, Bona would still likely start as a freshman at Kansas and would get to play for an annual Final Four threat. The only concern here is that this team has so many young forwards on the roster either from the 2021 or 2022 class that if Bona struggles, it wouldn’t be hard to see Coach Bill Self bench him in favor of going small. It also could limit what the five-star prospect can do to show off his overall skillset.