KU basketball lands surprise commitment from 5-star big man Flory Bidunga, top-5 recruit
Flory Bidunga, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound power forward from Kokomo (Indiana) High School, has decided to play college basketball at Kansas.
Bidunga, who is ranked No. 4 in the recruiting class of 2024 by ESPN.com and No. 5 by both Rivals.com and 247Sports.com, announced for KU on Saturday while at the Under Armour Elite 24 game in Atlanta.
He chose the Jayhawks over Auburn, Duke and Michigan. The decision shocked many — if not most — of the national recruiting analysts who believed Auburn had pulled ahead and was the current leader.
Bidunga also considered Indiana, Kentucky, Florida, Cincinnati, Purdue, Michigan State and others during the recruiting process.
KU coaches watched several of Bidunga’s games this summer, and it’s safe to say the big man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a high-priority prospect of the Jayhawks. KU coach Bill Self personally attended many of Bidunga’s games on the AAU circuit.
Bidunga announced during the ESPNU broadcast of a rain-plagued Elite 24 game, held on an outdoor court. Bidunga made his announcement to former Purdue player Robbie Hummel on the ESPNU telecast right after the game was called off right before halftime because of a slippery court.
The camera cut to Bidunga who said, “It was a tough choice for sure.” He then put on a KU hat and finished the thought, saying: “After all that, I decided to commit to ... Kansas!”
In a brief phone interview with The Star, Bidunga said he called both Self and assistant Jeremy Case on Saturday to tell them of his decision.
“Coach (Self) was excited. He was with his family. I said hi to them,” Bidunga said.
Asked when he knew he wanted to be a Jayhawk, Bidunga said: “When I went down to visit (in early May), coach talked to me about how serious I am about them and how serious they are about me. The visit ... went so well. I feel I liked everything there.”
Bidunga, who said his goal is “to win a national championship,” said his strength on the court is “scoring, rebounding. I like to do all of it.”
And asked what he’d like fans to know about him, Bidunga stated: “I like people to know I am a good person and care about people. If they know that about me, it would be great.”
The recruiting analysts love his game.
“Five-star Bidunga is an explosive athlete. The lefty moves in a way that other 6-foot-10 players don’t. He rebounds it well, he defends well, and he finishes — with authority — above the rim,” wrote Joe Tipton of On3.com.
“Flory Bidunga is a physical specimen. He has long arms, broad shoulders and a lot of burst,” wrote Jamie Shaw of On3.com. “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.”
He continued.
“Offensively, Bidunga has a good IQ; he is smart in dribble handoffs and can post wide and deep on the block,” Shaw wrote. “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.”
Kokomo High coach John Peckinpaugh told Zagsblog.com: “He’s really good with his back to the basket in the post. The thing that sets him apart is his motor is unbelievable and he’s a phenomenal athlete. He’s got a good right-handed and left-handed hook and really, really good footwork for someone as new to the game as he is.
“If he can continue to develop a face-up game and fine-tune his passing game out of the post, he’s got a chance to be really, really special. ... His goal is to be like (fellow Congo native) Jonathan Kuminga and play in the NBA, but he’s just so new to this whole process so he’s trying to take this slow and see what college basketball in the United States is like, kind of what conference, program, coaching staff is going to help him get to that next level.
“He’s not all over social media himself, he just wants to get into the gym and work out, continue to get better and try to enjoy the process instead of letting it become something that would overwhelm him.”
This story was originally published August 12, 2023 at 9:53 PM.
