Even though “College GameDay” was more than a week ago, UCLA is still reaping the benefits.
Napa Valley Prolific Prep’s 6-foot-10, 225-pound senior center Adem Bona committed to the UCLA men’s basketball team on Monday morning via his Instagram. Bona is a Nigerian-born 5-star recruit who picked the Bruins over Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona State and Baylor.
Bona was on his official visit Oct. 22-23 when “College Gameday” – the popular Saturday morning college football pre-game show – was on the Westwood campus ahead of UCLA’s Pac-12 clash against top-ranked Oregon. There were pictures of the broad-shouldered center early Saturday morning with UCLA coach Mick Cronin. Bona spoke about his visit with Chams Sharania of The Athletic.
“I saw the team practice, and give their all in practice,” Bona said. “What I saw in practice was really impressive. I really enjoyed my visit while down there. There’s a winning mentality there, and it’s going to help me a lot in developing my game for the pros.”
Just in: 5-star prospect Adem Bona — a 6-foot-10 big man — chooses between Kentucky and UCLA. pic.twitter.com/NfvEjo18XY
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 1, 2021
Cronin’s 2022 recruiting class is now ranked the 9th best on 247Sports.com with Bona’s commitment. Chatsworth Sierra Canyon combo guard Amari Bailey – the class’s No. 1 recruit – and point guard Dylan Andrews of Compass Prep (Arizona) are committed to UCLA, too.
“I wasn’t promised anything, but I hope with my work ethic and my abilities I believe I’m going to be starting and impacting the team a lot,” Bona said.
“It’s a huge decision for me and my family. Me, my siblings, my mom, it’s huge for us coming from Nigeria. And now I get a chance to go to college at UCLA to play basketball.”
