Kentucky makes list cut for 4-star 2025 PF Niko Bundalo

Kentucky is firmly in the mix for four-star power forward Niko Bundalo.

On Monday afternoon, On3’s Joe Tipton reported that Bundalo has cut his group of preferred schools down to a final eight. The Wildcats cracked the list, as did Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Texas, UConn, and Xavier. Bundalo has also scheduled four official visits spanning the end of August to the start of October: UConn, Michigan State, Ohio State, and North Carolina. More visits are expected to be set up.

According to the On3 Industry Ranking, the 6-foot-10 Bundalo is considered the No. 22 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle.

NEWS: 2025 Top-25 recruit Niko Bundalo has cut his list to eight schools, he tells @On3Recruits.

The 6-10 Power Forward has scheduled four official visits and goes in-depth on each of his finalists (On3+): https://t.co/XdoWlzwIPE pic.twitter.com/lOxgGPaonL

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) August 5, 2024

Kentucky offered Bundalo back in June and previously told KSR+ that he plans to make his way down to Lexington for an official visit at some point. Travis Branham of 247Sports reports that Bundalo has “set aside” the Wildcats as his final OV, which is likely to take place this fall. The weekend of Big Blue Madness in mid-October would be a good bet.

A decision could come shortly after his visits wrap up.

“Obviously it’s a really, really prestigious blue-blood school,” Bundalo told Tipton about Kentucky. “They’ve sent the most guys to the NBA than any other college in history. They breed pros. I really like coach Mark Pope. Me and coach Pope have really good conversations about basketball and outside of that. I think he’s one of those guys that just enjoys basketball and just enjoys being around his guys. The guys that he recruits are the ones that he sees meshing really well with him and his team.”

Originally from Serbia and now playing for Western Reserve Academy in Ohio, Bundalo is one of over a dozen 2025 prospects to receive an offer from Kentucky. Pope has yet to land a commitment in this cycle, but he has the Wildcats heavily involved with plenty of highly-ranked recruits.