St. John’s coach Chris Mullin, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and Villanova’s Jay Wright were among a slew of coaches who on Friday watched Mohamed Bamba, a 6-foot-11 2017 star out of Westtown (Pa.) School and the PSA Cardinals AAU program.
Assistants from Kentucky, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Virginia, Stanford and Penn State were also on hand at Westtown, which has half a dozen Division 1 prospects.
“By this time next year he will be the number one 2017 player in the country,” PSA Cardinals director Terrance “Munch” Williams said. “Westtown school has a great game plan for him on and off the court that will lead him back into his Nike PSA Cardinals uniform and allow him to dominate the competition.”
Bamba recently visited St. John’s, Wake Forest and Duke after a big summer in which he picked up offers from numerous schools, including Kentucky and Duke. The Harlem native is now ranked No. 8 in the Class of 2017 by ESPN.com and No. 4 by Scout.com.
“I attribute that to all the hard work I’ve done in the gym,” Bamba told Scout.com during the recent Nike Select visit to the Bahamas. “I’m just not known nationally now for no reason. Everything happens for a reason, and I worked for it. I think I worked for it.”
He added: “My motor now is outstanding and if I get that to a high level there’s no telling what I can do.”
As for the Duke offer, he said, “It’s a great offer to have, I’m happy to get any offer.”
As for St. John’s, they are targeting him in the Class of 2017 along with point guard Trevon Duval and combo guard Hamidou Diallo, among others.
Bamba told Scout he has no plans to make a college decision anytime soon.
“No, not even close,” he said. “Not even close.”
Photo: Lonnie Webb
