7-foot-2 John Bol hoping to hear more from Kentucky: "It would be a privilege"

John Bol was already 6-foot-9 by eighth grade. At the time, he was still living in South Sudan, where he would stay until a little over a year ago. Now a 7-foot-2 high school sophomore at Christian Brothers College (MO), Bol is chasing his dream of playing professional basketball.

Over the weekend, Bol suited up for Mokan Elite at the second session of the Nike EYBL circuit, which took place just outside of Indianapolis. He’s a class of 2024 prospect but was playing up at the U17 level. Already considered the No. 15 sophomore and the top overall center by the On3 Consensus, it was easy to see why Bol has graduated from the younger ranks.

In a limited role for Mokan, which finished 3-1 over the weekend, Bol averaged 4.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks while averaging 14.5 minutes per outing. His offensive skillset is a work in progress, but he does possess a soft touch around the rim and is actively expanding his range to 15 feet and beyond. Bol finished the weekend shooting 8-17 overall from the floor (47.1 percent), but where he truly makes his impact doesn’t show up in a typical box score.

You won’t find many 7-footers — or high-level prospects in general — that fight and work as hard as Bol.

“What separates me is my motor, I have a good motor,” Bol told KSR on Sunday. “I usually affect my teammates with my motor. I always like to hear people talk on the court so I usually give a lot of energy and a lot of hype and it gets the team going. When I get my blocks and my dunks, it gets the team going as well. So one thing that separates me is that I can move a little bit faster than the normal 7-2 dude and I’m proud of that and I’m working on that more to be more lethal on the offensive end.”

7’2 Sophomore, John Bol, is a CHEAT CODE for CBC (St. Louis)! @CBCHS_Hoops pic.twitter.com/v7yvloAetr

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 27, 2021

When we spoke with Bol, he had just wrapped up a 30-point win over Team Herro in a game that tipped off bright and early at 8:00 on Sunday morning — the final contest of a four-game slate. He registered four points, six boards, one assist, and one block in his 17 minutes of action, running around the floor as if he’d been awake and preparing for this game for hours. Bol was a constant jolt of energy and played with an infectious joy.

Considering his routine right now consists of him waking up at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday, this early morning wake-up call did little to stop him from going all out.

As for his recruitment, he’s already received offers from the likes of Illinois, Clemson, Missouri, St. Louis, and Butler. When Bol spoke with KSR in Indy, he mentioned Arkansas and Kansas specifically as schools reaching out to his guardian, but added there are plenty of others doing the same. When asked about Kentucky, he said that assistant coach Jai Lucas has been contacting his guardian and establishing a connection.

Since he’s still a sophomore, coaches can’t directly contact Bol, but he hopes that will happen with Kentucky when the time comes later this year.

“I know that they are a big school, they’re a big name, they’ve had a lot of success, and a lot of dudes from the NBA that played for Kentucky,” Bol said. “So being recruited by Kentucky would mean a lot to me and it would be a privilege.”

7-foot-2 centers with a 7-foot-9 wingspan (not a typo) don’t come along very often and Kentucky should continue to build a relationship with Bol. He can do things on the floor due to his length that other bigs simply can’t. His potential as an elite rim protector is incredibly high and he loves to run the floor. Bol’s motor is tough to replicate and his ceiling is sky-high.

“I bring a lot of stuff to the table. Being 7-2 is intimidating to other teams,” Bol added. “When we play other teams and they see a 7-2 dude, that discourages them from driving and coming for an easy lane, because I’m not about to have that. Other things about my game is trying to work more on the offensive end of the ball and do a little bit more damage on that end. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna come out different at the next time we have a live session, I’m gonna come out different.”

Bol has only been playing basketball for about three years now, so his rawness is understandable, but also what makes him such an intriguing prospect. His cheery and personable attitude will make him a future fan favorite whenever he lands at the next level.