5-star Tounde Yessoufou sets down official visits with seven programs ft. Dan Hurley’s UConn

By Aman Sharma

Modified Aug 27, 2024 18:11 GMT

Tounde Yessoufou, a top-ranked 5-star small forward in the 2025 class, has unveiled his official visit schedule. The prospect from Santa Maria, California, will visit Baylor (8/29), Tennessee (9/13), UConn (9/21), Kansas (10/4), Kentucky (10/11), UCLA (10/25), and Arizona State (11/2).

Yessoufou, a rising senior at St. Joseph High School in California, has already visited Arizona, USC and Washington under its previous coaching staff. His upcoming visits reflect his careful consideration of each program's strengths. He described Baylor (via Zagsblog.com) as:

“They’re a great team out there. They’ve been winning for a long time, they play freshman and like you see in the draft they develop players really well.”

Discussing Kansas, Yessoufou mentioned the widespread admiration for the Jayhawks:

“Everybody loves the Jayhawks out there. I hear it’s a great campus and great atmosphere to be in. I’m looking forward to doing the visit with them.”

He praised Tennessee for their aggressive style of play:

“I like the way they play hard defensively and offensively. They push the ball forward and keep running the floor, so I like that.”

Originally from Benin, Yessoufou moved to the United States three years ago to pursue his basketball dreams. Despite coming from a family with no basketball background, he embraced the sport with passion and dedication.

“Nobody in my family ever played basketball,” he said. “I just saw it and then I loved it and decided to put my heart into it.”

Tounde Yessoufou nears decision as top programs vie for 5-star talent

Tounde Yessoufou, a highly coveted 5-star recruit, is expected to narrow his choices and commit between November and January. The standout forward has attracted offers from numerous prestigious programs, including Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, California, UConn, Kansas, UCLA, USC and Washington.

In a conversation with Jamie Shaw of On3, Yessoufou reflected on his visits to USC and UConn. At USC, he was impressed by the coaching staff's toughness and commitment to player development.

"Coach Musselman has helped many players reach the league," Yessoufou remarked. "Coach Muss (Eric Musselman) has had a lot of players make it to the league. The staff has some NBA players too who can use their experience to teach me different skills and how to read the game."

When discussing UConn, Yessoufou praised the program's winning culture and resilience.

"Winning matters to me, and every kind of win is big. What they have done to win twice is impressive. Their coach [Hurley] has been doing a great job over there. He is tough mentally. I just like the way Coach (Dan) Hurley puts the winning mentality on all of his players.”

Yessoufou's impressive performance as a sophomore at St. Joseph High School showcased averaging 27.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 3.7 steals per game. His leadership helped his team achieve a 28-7 record and win the NorCal Open Division Regional championship.