Jonathan Givony, ESPN 2y

Source: Bahamian basketball prospect Fredrick King commits to Louisville

Men's College Basketball, Men Basketball Recruiting, Louisville Cardinals

Top international prospect Fredrick King has committed to Louisville, a source told ESPN.

A 6-foot-10, 220 pound center with a 9-foot-2 standing reach from the Bahamas, King averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds per game at the NBA Academy Games in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in late September, helping the NBA Academy Latin America to a 3-0 record and bursting onto the radar screens of NBA scouts and college basketball coaches in the process.

King picked Louisville over a group of schools that included Creighton, Miami, Georgetown, Washington State, a source said.

King is a major success story for the NBA Academy, as he was an unknown upon joining the program in January, with zero Division I scholarship offers prior to being seen at the academy's event in Mexico for the first time. He is a mobile big man who is quick off his feet and plays with an exceptionally high intensity level, while possessing intriguing skill, poise and maturity. He converted 77% of his field goal attempts at the Academy Games, many of which came on dunks, and 74% of his free throws.

King is young for his class, the same age as or younger than many high school juniors in the U.S. At one point he was deemed a candidate to take a gap year and enter college in 2023, but his strong play and aggressive pursuit by college suitors caused him to revisit those plans. He will enroll at Louisville as a 17-year-old and likely possesses considerable upside to tap into with his extreme lack of experience against high-level competition, putting him on a different trajectory than most big men in this class.

His commitment is a coup for a Louisville team that is awaiting word from the NCAA on potential punishments stemming from allegations made in the FBI's investigation into the sport of college basketball. The school had landed only one other commitment in the 2022 class, from four-star wing D'Ante Davis, brother of Louisville sophomore D'Andre Davis. The Cardinals will be losing starting center Malik Williams, a member of the Preseason All-ACC Second Team, after five years in the program.

The NBA currently has six academies: two in China; one each in New Delhi, India; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; and Thies, Senegal; with its Global Academy serving as the hub for elite prospects in Canberra, Australia. Twenty-eight players from the NBA academies are currently playing Division I basketball. NBA Global Academy alumnus Josh Giddey was the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NBA draft, and seven more players who passed through the program appear in the latest ESPN Top 100 for the 2022 NBA draft.

Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service utilized by NBA, NCAA and international teams.

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