Mohamed Bamba is a big man with a big summer ahead.
Beginning Wednesday, the 7-footer from Harlem will be watched by dozens of coaches when he and the PSA Cardinals begin play at the Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C.. With a 14-2 record and a slew of uncommitted Class of 2017 standouts, the PSA Cardinals figure to be one of the hottest draws at the finale of the Nike EYBL circuit.
“My whole approach to Peach Jam is to take one game and as you go on, just win and dominate,” Bamba told SNY.tv. “This is probably my third or fourth time going to Peach Jam. Every time I’ve gone it’s gotten better. The first time we didn’t make it out of pool play, the second time we made it out of pool play, the third time we made it to the quarterfinals, semifinals. And this time I want to win it all.”
Ranked the No. 4 player in the Class of 2017 by Rivals.com and projected by at least one mock draft as the No. 3 pick in 2018, Bamba holds offer from just about every high-major Division 1 program in the land — including Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona, Louisville, UConn, Syracuse, Villanova, Maryland and Indiana.
The Cardinals also feature fellow uncommitted 2017s Quade Green, Brandon Randolph and Hasahn French, as well as Class of 2019 point guard Cole Anthony, and their games should be mobbed this week.
“As a team, I expect over 50 schools to watch these guys at Peach Jam,” said PSA Cardinals director Terrance “Munch” Williams.
Bamba recently began working out again after a high ankle sprain sidelined him last month during the USA Basketball U18 trials in Colorado Springs. Colo.
“It was very frustrating but I have trust in my team to go out and perform,” he said. “We played just as well if not better [without me].”
Immediately after Peach Jam, Bamba will re-join the U18s for a week long training camp at Houston (TX) Strake Jesuit High School between July 11-15.
“I plan to fly down the day after Peach Jam and then we practice for four days, and then we’re off to Chile,” Bamba said.
The U.S. will begin play in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Valdivia, Chile on July 19.
Several of Bamba’s U18 teammates will also be at Peach Jam, including Green, his PSA Cardinals teammate who recently picked up offers from Kentucky and Duke, and NY Rens shooting guard Hamidou Diallo, who holds offers from Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, UConn and Syracuse, among others.
The U.S. U17 team won the gold medal in the World Championship on Sunday in Zaragoza, Spain, and that team includes several of Bamba’s friends, including Atlanta (Ga.) Pace Academy forward Wendell Carter Jr., who was named to the all-tournament team.
“They have a great team,” Bamba said. “They have two great bigs with Wendell and Austin [Wiley]. They’re fun to watch, I wish I could go out there and play against them.”
Bamba and Carter Jr. have been linked as a possible package deal to Duke or Harvard, but Bamba insists there is no package.
“It could happen, but it’s not a package deal,” Bamba said. “We talk, we’re friends and we joke around a lot but it’s not a package deal. He’s doing his recruitment and I’m doing my recruitment.”
Bamba and Green are also linked via the PSA Cardinals and USA Basketball, and now Duke and Kentucky are among the schools in the mix for both.
“Quade’s a great kid and who knows what the future holds, maybe we’ll play together, maybe we won’t,” Bamba said.
As far as his own recruitment, Bamba plans to trim his list to about 10 schools in August and then go from there.
“I’ll cut my list to 10 sometime in August, I’m not sure if it will be early or mid-August,” Bamba said. “But I’ll cut it to 10 in August and then from there I’ll probably eliminate a school every month until I get to one.”
He plans to wait until the spring to commit.
In the meantime, Bamba is headed to Peach Jam to try to win a title — and impress the coaches in the process.
“I’m sure they’ll be watching,” he said, “but this is about the third or fourth time going to Peach Jam so no pressure.”
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