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Baylor Basketball

Baylor Men's Basketball Adds Junior College Big Man Yanis Ndjonga for 2023-24

July 10, 2023
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WACO, Texas – Baylor men's basketball added some size to its roster with the addition of Yanis Ndjonga on Monday, head coach Scott Drew announced.

The native of Yaounde, Cameroon, played his freshman season at New Mexico Military Institute, where he averaged 13.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 26 games for the Broncos. He also made 15 of 36 three-point attempts.

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The 6-foot-8 freshman forward burst out of the gate for the Broncos last season with 22 points and seven rebounds in his debut against Garden City Community College. He followed that up with a double-double against Garden City a week later, netting 20 points and 11 rebounds. He pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds against Lamar Community College while pouring in 12 points. His season-high scoring output came with 30 points and 14 rebounds against Strength 'N Motion, one of 12 double-doubles on the season.
 
In 2021, Ndjonga played in the FIBA Africa Champions Clubs Road to B.A.L., where he appeared in six games averaging two points and two rebounds per game.
 
Ndjonga joins a roster with a top-10 recruiting class headlined by Ja'Kobe Walter, Miro Little and Yves Missi. Jalen Bridges, Dantwan Grimes, Caleb Lohner, Langston Love, Austin Sacks, Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Joshua Ojianwuna lead a strong group of returners. The Bears also added a pair of experienced transfers in MAC Player of the Year RayJ Dennis from Toledo and Jayden Nunn from VCU.
 
Baylor will open the season in a marquee matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 7, against the Auburn Tigers at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The matchup will mark the second-straight season that Baylor has played at the Pentagon, topping Gonzaga in a 64-63 thriller as a part of the inaugural Peacock Classic. 
 

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Baylor Men's Basketball Adds Junior College Big Man Yanis Ndjonga for 2023-24

9,289 Views | 16 Replies | Last: 11 mo ago by PhoenixBear
MrGolfguy
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1:07p, 7/10/23
W
Well I ain't no greenhorn!!
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Crawfoso1973
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3:12p, 7/10/23
Developmental guy or immediate rotation guy?
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jumpinjoe
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3:30p, 7/10/23
They all are development. You can't teach 6'8". That a good place to start development.
Joined BaylorFans in 1999 under username jumpinjoe. Have always been Jumpinjoe. Proud 4 Year Baylor letterman and 1968 graduate and charter member of Quartermiler U, produced school record in 400 IH.
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to jumpinjoe • 8:16p, 7/10/23
jumpinjoe said:
They all are development. You can't teach 6'8". That a good place to start development.
Sorry I think my question was confusing. I'm wondering if someone in the know can share if he is expected to be a rotation player next season, or will be looking to redshirt and develop like Grimes.
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bear2be2
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 1:59p, 7/11/23
Crawfoso1973 said:
jumpinjoe said:
They all are development. You can't teach 6'8". That a good place to start development.
Sorry I think my question was confusing. I'm wondering if someone in the know can share if he is expected to be a rotation player next season, or will be looking to redshirt and develop like Grimes.
I hope he's capable of contributing immediately, providing a hedge against having to give Caleb Lohner consistent minutes as the backup four behind Jalen Bridges.

If Lohner improves enough to earn those minutes, great. But I didn't like the idea of going into the season with that being a necessity or inevitability.
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to bear2be2 • 2:50p, 7/11/23
I agree 100%. If this guy redshirts and if Lohner hasn't improved from what he was last year, I would rather play 4 guard lineups when Bridges is out of the game instead of giving Lohner those minutes by default.
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GruntTuff
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3:38p, 7/11/23
This guy could be a real sleeper. I watched a little video and he's definitely not a stiff. He does have some shake and decent handles to his game.

For those of us who are REALLY old timers, his shot reminds me a lot of William Chatmon who played excellent ball for the Bears from 1969-71. The shot sort of has the ball rolling out of his hand like Chatmon.

Also VERY strange....I noticed that Chatmon was drafted....yes, a Baylor player from that era was drafted.

Guess which round? The 15th!! Seriously....15 rounds in the NBA draft in 1971. He was drafted by none other than the Buffalo Braves.
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Quinton
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 9:48p, 7/11/23
Coaches will try to roll Missi and Josh out there in spurts. A little too soon for primetime in my view but might just surprise and be ahead of schedule.
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Johnny Bear
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8:13a, 7/12/23
Does this for sure totally fill up the roster for '23-'24?
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to Quinton • 8:22a, 7/12/23
If Lohner isn't ready to do more than what he did last year, I could definately see big linueps with Missi / EJ or smaller lineups with 4 guards since Walter and Love have nice positional size. Missi appears to have terrific mobility and athleticism that would allow him to switch and defend in space. The question would be how much of an offensive liability would he be playing the 4 in spurts.
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parch
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8:54a, 7/12/23
Fun stat: in Drew's 19 seasons at Baylor, he's had a West African big on the roster in 15 of those.
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JP1037
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10:51a, 7/12/23
This is a developmental play. Guys very very rarely go from a community college league to Big 12 contributor in one season.

My guess is Drew likes his rebounding ability. Which was a Big struggle last year.

FWIW Lohner can rebound and is good as long as he doesn't have to dribble. You guys are too focused on him not being good with the ball.

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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to JP1037 • 11:22a, 7/12/23
I agree he can rebound but the problem was that a rebound or any other time he touched the ball resulted in an immediate turnover and he was always lost on defense. A lot of situational awareness and development still needed to be a viable rotation player behind Bridges.
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Quinton
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 6:29p, 7/12/23
Was hoping for that Tenn transfer And Bridges but they both wanted feature roles so only one was coming. Would have put us in national title talk had it happened. Still think they have tremendous upside but as you said either Lohner needs to improve quite a bit or we need someone else to slide into that backup role with as limited drop off as possible.
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BUCANDOIT82
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6:48p, 7/12/23
The plan is to redshirt him...He'll only see minutes if there are injuries.
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PhoenixBear
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In reply to GruntTuff • 7:25p, 7/13/23
Chatmon went to Europe after his tryout in the NBA....played for many years and is still living in Europe.
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