Rutgers men’s basketball had a recruit visit campus recently in class of 2023 center Amdy Ndiaye. Credit to 24/7 Hoops for first reporting the news. It was the latest proof that the coaching staff is exploring every option in how to fill out the roster for next season and beyond.
The 6’9” center plays for Long Island Lutheran in Glen Head, New York but is a native of Senegal. He only started playing basketball roughly six years ago per an interview with Pro Insight. Before coming to the US, Ndiaye played three years for the Nanterre junior team in France.
Ndiaye has a 4-star rating by ESPN. He also has a 3-star rating by 247 Sports who also list him as the No. 6 recruit in New York and No. 39 center overall. Ndiaye doesn’t have a composite ranking because he isn’t rated by every recruiting service. This could be due to only playing in the states for his junior and senior seasons, both at Long Island Lutheran. The school does play in the competitive NIBC and they finished No. 5 nationally in the ESPN Top 25 poll last season.
Ndiaye was named a standout by multiple recruiting analysts at both the La Porte Invitational and Hoop Hall Classic in January.
A long, athletic big man, Ndiaye runs the floor well and plays with a high motor. He is a willing rebounder who attacks the glass and he can defend multiple positions. Offensively, he would need time to develop his shot consistently outside of near the rim on second chance scoring chances and dump off passes. He’s also just over 200 pounds, so Ndiaye needs to add a lot of weight and muscle to hold up against frontcourt players in the Big Ten. At 6’9″, he’s also a bit undersized to play the 5 at the high major level. Not a reason to dismiss Ndiaye, but something to evaluate in his long term viability.
This late in the recruiting cycle, Ndiaye is now considered one of the better players remaining in the 2023 class. However, there is a possibility that he reclassifies to 2024 and takes a post-grad year instead.
Rutgers has three scholarships remaining for the 2023-2024 season. However, after signing JUCO big man Emmanuel Ogbole this past week, they still need 1-2 guards to replace starters Cam Spencer and Paul Mulcahy. Perhaps Ndiaye could fill a spot as a backup big next season. Rutgers could also be considering him for a potential spot in the 2024 class. It’s likely of interest to Ndiaye that RU is visiting Senegal along with Portugal in August. Either way, there is no confirmation that Rutgers has even offered Ndiaye, only that he took a visit in recent days.
Steve Pikiell and the staff have shown to be diligent on the trail in filling out the current roster. They recently were pursuing 3-star shooter in the class of 2023 Joey Hart who committed to Kentucky on Saturday. They are also prioritizing prized recruit Dylan Harper to secure arguably the top class of 2024. In addition, RU is in contact with many 2025 prospects. This includes priority target and the top recruit in New Jersey in 2025, Darius Adams.More to come on recruiting for Rutgers men’s basketball during what has been a very busy offseason so far.
You can watch highlights of Ndiaye below.
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BataliBoli98
June 18, 2023 at 1:06 pm
Looks like a stretch 4 to me. The one clip showing him hitting a 3 demonstrates a guy with a high release and a nice stroke. I guess my question is why is a 2023 recruit that is a borderline 4 star not already signed? 247 sports lists him as having no interest. Something seems off.