Baye Fall commits to K-State basketball, program’s 5th McDonald’s All-American player
Former McDonald’s All-American and Arkansas big man Baye Fall has committed to the Kansas State men’s basketball team, he told On3.com on Saturday evening.
Fall, a 6-foot-11 sophomore from Senegal, played a total of just 44 minutes his debut season at Arkansas, but was a unanimous four-star and top-40 prospect in the 2023 recruiting class. He was rated No. 148 overall in the current transfer portal rankings by 247Sports.
He will be just the fifth McDonald’s All-American to play for the Wildcats, joining Tom Freeman (1977), Deryl Cunningham (1991), Michael Beasley (2007) and Wally Judge (2009).
It also marks the second straight day K-State coach Jerome Tang has received a commitment to his 2024 recruiting class, as Villanova sharpshooter Brendan Hausen also pledged to the Wildcats on Friday. Fall committed at the end of his official visit to Manhattan on Saturday.
“Fall is a physically gifted big man with size, length, athleticism and mobility,” 247Sports analyst Adam Finkelstein said in his evaluation. “He runs the floor extremely well, can slide his feet laterally and is a bouncy leaper. His best potential lies on the defensive end of the floor, where he is already a high-level rim protector who can block shots on and off the ball. He also moves exceptionally well laterally for his size, allowing him rare versatility as a pick-and-roll defender who can even be switchable in certain situations.”
Fall adds some much-needed size to K-State’s roster following the departures of Will McNair (graduation) and Jerrell Colbert (transfer portal). He also bolsters what was already one of the nation’s best transfer classes, as EvanMiya had K-State rated No. 23 nationally in the incoming transfer class rankings — before adding Fall.
K-State has landed four players in the transfer portal: Fall, Hausen, Illinois-Chicago guard C.J. Jones and Michigan guard Dug McDaniel. The Wildcats also have guard David Castillo, an incoming freshman, signed to their 2024 recruiting class, which currently has four open scholarships remaining.
Key returners for the Wildcats include forward David N’Guessan and guard Dai Dai Ames, while K-State has lost four starters from last season: Tylor Perry (graduated), Cam Carter (transferred to LSU), Arthur Kaluma (NBA Draft) and McNair. Other Wildcats in the transfer portal include Ques Glover, Colbert, Dorian Finister (Sam Houston State) and R.J. Jones.
