BYU's basketball roster is finally complete after a hectic offseason that saw the Cougars lose key players in Jaxson Robinson, Aly Khalifa, and Noah Waterman to the transfer portal following a shakeup at the head coach position.
NEWS: BYU has landed the commitment of 2025 prospect Khadim Mboup, who will be reclassifying to 2024 and enrolling this year, a source tells @On3sports.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) July 11, 2024
The 6-9 combo forward out of NBA Academy Africa visited the Cougars last weekend. Was also considering SMU. pic.twitter.com/GwAEWJSmST
Khadim Mboup's commitment was announced yesterday by Vanquish the Foe's Robby McCombs. The 6-foot-9 Senegalese forward has connections to the NBA Academy Africa program and held interest from SMU upon the opening of his recruiting. Coach Will Voigt's time in Africa played a large role in connecting with Mboup before securing his commitment.
With apologies to fans of Hanson, Khadim was not likely the inspiration of the one-hit-wonder's, well, single hit song MMMBop, (his name is officially pronounced "M-Boop" though the song won't stop reverberating inside my skull since Mboup's commitment awoke the tune from it's decade-long dormancy.
Like a jigsaw puzzle, roster construction is all about finding the right fit to complete the intended picture. The final piece of the puzzle often eludes me when filling out a jigsaw puzzle, but maybe I should just stop satisfying my puzzle cravings at the flea market. Many constructors understand the challenge of finding the final piece that satisfies the needs of your team, but it's vital to finding a system that will endure trials of the future.
Mboup didn't see much playing time in the NBA's BAL, but his hyper-athleticism and tremendous physical tools suggest that Mboup holds untapped potential that the BYU coaching staff will be itching to release upon the rest of the college basketball world. Check out this clip of his highlights during the NBA Academy Africa showcase where Mboup.
Khadim Mboup didn’t get much playing time for AS Douanes in the BAL, but made up for it with inspired play in the BAL Elevate Showcase.
— Ngijol Songolo (@5ongolo) June 10, 2024
The NBA Academy Africa product was unstoppable all game in transition and the dunker spot.
pic.twitter.com/AK0q9wqqXS
Khadim's family and friends are effusive in the praise of his character, work ethic, and values. In Mboup, BYU lands a player who adds greatly to their team's culture and should be a beloved member of the locker room.
Karim Nesba, one of Mboup's player development coaches at NBA Academy Africa, gave a glowing report of his work ethic, highlighting that his character trickles into every aspect of his development.
"Khadim is a special kid. It's not every day that you get to have the opportunity to work with a player at a very young age who understands the value of the time that he spends in the gym. but as soon as he enters the gym, you can tell that he's there to get better. It's like he's on a mission."Karim Nesba,
NBA Academy Africa published a terrific video on their site that outlines Mboup's upbringing, family, friends, and more when they visit his childhood home in Dakar, Senegal. It's a fantastic watch, and I can't recommend a better way to meet the newest BYU Cougar, Khadim Mboup. You can watch the video here.
He's still raw as a prospect, and though he has the physical tools to make the leap to higher levels of basketball, Mboup isn't another one-and-done type of player. He'll take a few years to develop in head coach Kevin Young's system and should be a good benchmark to determine BYU's viability as a pseudo-NBA prep academy.
Take a look at Mboup's NBA Academy Africa highlights here: