Top-20 recruit Tounde Yessoufou names top 10 schools

Tounde Yessoufou, one of the top small forwards in the 2025 class, has narrowed his list of schools to ten: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, UCLA, UConn, USC, and Washington.

The 6-foot-5 four-star rising senior out of St. Joseph High School (CA) has taken official visits to Arizona, USC, and Washington (old staff). Baylor will host him for an official visit on August 31st. He plans to set up more visits in the near future.

2025 4-Star SG Tounde Yessoufou Adds Kentucky Offer: ‘They’ve Been on Me Pretty Hard’

Yessoufou, On3’s No. 13 overall prospect in the 2025 class, averaged an impressive 20.8 points per game on the circuit this spring and summer with Team Why Not (EYBL).

Yessoufou breaks down his recent trips to USC and Arizona

In a previous interview with On3’s Jamie Shaw, Yessoufou recapped his recent visits to USC and Arizona.

USC: “I saw how the coach is really tough and how he was able to give me some advice on how to make it to the league. He said I cannot go to college just wanting to make it to the next level, I have to want to work. 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.

“My relationship with the staff is pretty amazing. I Facetime with Coach Muss most of the nights, just able to talk about how I am doing outside of basketball, and about my family. That is nice to know that he cares like that.”

ARIZONA: “They are more like a community there. They are all together and their friendship is pretty amazing. Just how the coaches are joking with the players and the guys still play hard every time they step on the court. It was unique for me, the way the relationship between the players is all family. It really impressed me.

“My relationship with them is really good. Being able to talk with them every time I can. Coach Jack Murphy and Tommy Lloyd reach out to me after every time I play telling me they enjoyed watching me and how hard I played. It’s really unique and I really like them.”

More schools in the mix

Yessoufou also spoke to Shaw regarding several other schools that are vying for his talents.

BAYLOR: “I like how they play freshmen. In the past, they have put three guards on the floor, and that is unique. And they have been winning a lot of games. How much they win is very impressive. I feel like I can fit in with how they play. They are always reaching out to me before and after my games to tell me to just keep going. I really like them.”

KENTUCKY: “My relationship has been really good with Kentucky. Mark Pope, every time he comes to my practice, he is a funny guy. He tells me to keep going and to play hard. His energy is unique, he is the type of coach that can push you hard to develop yourself both on and off the court. His message to me is that he wants me to play for him because I am a great person and how hard I play. He says he enjoys watching me play every time. He always gives me advice to stay mentally strong out there, even if things don’t go my way, to stick to the plan and move on to the next play. It really matters to me that a coach can tell me what I need to hear, the truth.”

TENNESSEE: “My relationship with Tennessee is really good. I’ve been talking with Coach Rod Clark, he is a great guy. He keeps everything real with me, he says that everyone knows that I can shoot now, but I have to keep punishing the glass and going to rebound every time I can and that opens the floor for me to knock down shots. Offensively, they play fast and they are strong on defense. They develop players and the way they play is really impressive. I watched them play a few times last year and they were doing some great things. He trusts his players.”

UCONN: “Championships man. Winning matters to me, and every kind of win is big. What they have done to win twice is impressive. Their coach has been doing a great job over there. He is tough mentally, every time I have spoken with him on the phone you can tell he is super wired and he is super efficient with how tough you have to be to keep winning. Everyone wants to beat you if you’re a champion, but they just stand right there and have a game plan for everybody. I just like the way Coach (Dan) Hurley puts the winning mentality on all of his players.”

KANSAS: “I’ve been talking a lot with Coach (Kurtis) Townsend. He’s a great guy, one of the guys who has really recruited me the most honestly. Seeing Bill Self coming to my Section 7 games, twice. I had never seen him in person, so it meant a lot for me to see the head coach to take the time to come and watch me. Obviously, he is one of the great coaches in basketball, too and the atmosphere is great there. So I am excited to get to the campus and see what the relationship is like with the team.”

Future visits? + timeline for a decision

“I am planning a visit to Baylor on August 31,” Yessoufou told Shaw earlier this month. “After that, I am also going to visit Kentucky, UConn, Tennessee, and Kansas. I don’t have dates yet for those other schools because all of them want to go last so it has been hard to get dates.”

Yessoufou says a decision will likely come during the early signing period.

“I am planning to sign during the early period, right now,” Yessoufou said. “Probably November. I have the Baylor visit on August 31, and then the other visits we will set up after that.