{"id":134439,"date":"2025-04-15T01:56:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T05:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=134439"},"modified":"2025-04-15T01:56:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T05:56:33","slug":"baylor-tounde-yessoufou-path-nba-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/15\/baylor-tounde-yessoufou-path-nba-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Baylor\u2019s Viral Hooper On Path To Make NBA History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Baylor commit Tounde Yessoufou became a viral sensation after clips of him practicing for the Nike Hoops Summit surfaced and left fans feeling like they had seen a mirror image of Minnesota Timberwolves rising star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwaran01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Edwards<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Baylor\u2019s Tounde Yessoufou On Path To Make NBA History<\/h2>\n<p>At 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds, Yessoufou&#8217;s build, athleticism, movements were reminiscent of the 23-year-old three-time All-Star. He even wears a No. 5 jersey. Now that he has everyone\u2019s attention, he\u2019s showing the same gusto that Edwards is known for as well.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Baylor commit Tounde Yessoufou is a freak athlete \ud83d\ude33 <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ToundeYessoufou?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ToundeYessoufou<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nikehoopsummit?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@nikehoopsummit<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wUPrieIxM9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/wUPrieIxM9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 B\/R Hoops (@brhoops) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brhoops\/status\/1910358857391743396?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>When the ball finally tipped off for the Nike Hoops Summit, Yessoufou was able to make a number of winning plays, even scoring the bucket that sent the game to overtime.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">6\u20195\u201d Tounde Yessoufou of Benin \u2014 a Baylor commit \u2014 stole the show playing for the World team. \u201cLittle Ant\u201d did everything on the floor including sending the game to OT on a coast-to-coast drive with 4 seconds left <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SlBaTFN0WH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/SlBaTFN0WH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Trysta Krick \ud83d\udd25 (@Trysta_Krick) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Trysta_Krick\/status\/1911543510039449754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Tounde Yessoufou getting the steal from help defense and gets the easy bucket \ud83d\udd25 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mL4knFVzsV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/mL4knFVzsV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mike O (@coolguy551_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/coolguy551_\/status\/1911270737526022541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">TOUNDE YESSOUFOU IS COLD \ud83e\udd76<\/p>\n<p>SENDS THE GAME TO OVERTIME <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jtk3Q6PQ9J\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/jtk3Q6PQ9J<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mike O (@coolguy551_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/coolguy551_\/status\/1911272038683017419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>By the final buzzer, he had amassed 24 points, three assists, and two steals. He was efficient as well, going 9-19 from the floor and 2-5 from 3. One performance doesn\u2019t make an NBA player, but Yessoufou looks like he\u2019s on the verge of making NBA history.<\/p>\n<h3>One Of A Kind<\/h3>\n<p>There have been 67 players who hail from Africa that have played in the NBA. None of those trailblazers have come from Benin, a small country nestled between a tinier Togo and the well-known Nigeria. Now Yessoufou, who immigrated from Benin to the United States just before he began high school, has the chance to be the first.<\/p>\n<p>A five-star high school recruit out of St. Joseph High School, Yessoufou is ranked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-sports\/basketball\/recruiting\/player\/_\/id\/252089\/tounde-yessoufou\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">15th overall in the ESPN 100<\/a> for the Class of 2024. While receiving offers from programs like UConn and Kentucky, the 18-year-old chose the Bears because \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/santamariatimes.com\/sports\/local\/high-school\/no-1-in-2024-tounde-yessoufou-signs-with-baylor\/article_e36bd730-c6fa-11ef-8449-3366aa31a05e.amp.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it felt like family<\/a>,\u201d per Kenny Cress of the Santa Maria Times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt the energy, felt the brotherhood,\u201d he\u2019d add.<\/p>\n<p>With the Bears set to lose VJ Edgecombe to the 2025 NBA Draft, Yessoufou could start from Day 1. A player who became California\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxpreps.com\/m\/news\/sWjW1iziHk-sAXSYGGIXCA\/baylor-signee-tounde-yessoufou-becomes-all-time-leading-scorer-in-california-basketball-history.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">all-time leader in scoring<\/a> in February before winning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/high-school\/national\/baylor-commit-tounde-yessoufou-wins-mcdonald-s-all-american-dunk-contest-01jqpzss0kr6\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the McDonald\u2019s All-American Dunk Contest<\/a> in March, he\u2019s truly an extremely gifted player.<\/p>\n<p>When he was just a freshman, he averaged 26.4 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 2.9 blocks per game. As a sophomore, he averaged 27.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. As a junior, he averaged 32.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. Then, as a senior, he averaged 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game.<\/p>\n<p>A superior athlete who&#8217;s diligently developing his guard skills, Yessoufou looks like every bit of a two-way force. On film and on paper. All else considered equal, the sky is the limit for him, in college.. and the pros.<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 Pamela Smith-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Baylor commit Tounde Yessoufou became a viral sensation after clips of him practicing for the Nike Hoops Summit surfaced and left fans feeling like they had seen a mirror image of Minnesota Timberwolves rising star Anthony Edwards. Baylor\u2019s Tounde Yessoufou On Path To Make NBA History At 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds, Yessoufou&#8217;s build, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":134463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[773,1608,21,62,556],"tags":[2109,884,98,50079],"class_list":["post-134439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-basketball","category-basketball","category-timberwolves","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-baylor-bears","tag-nba-draft","tag-tounde-yessoufou"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134439"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134464,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134439\/revisions\/134464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}