Diaper Dandy: Comparing Baylor's 5-stars Tounde Yessoufou and VJ Edgecombe

Coming into the year, the comparisons between former Big 12 Rookie of the Year and current Philadelphia 76er VJ Edgecombe and Baylor five-star freshman Tounde Yessoufou happened early and often. It's easy to see why. Both players came into college basketball with chiseled, NBA-ready bodies ready made to handle the punishment of a Big 12 schedule, high-running motors paired with defensive instincts to rack up steals and blocks, but most notably, expectations of becoming Baylor's next lottery pick.

Being nine games into Baylor's schedule, there's just enough of a sample size to start to draw some conclusions about Yessoufou and how they relate to Baylor's latest NBA guard. Both Edgecombe and Yessoufou already had multiple contests against high-level, NCAA-tournament caliber teams to this point, with Baylor's first two games being against Gonzaga and Arkansas, and this year's Bears facing off against St. John's, San Diego State, and Creighton in the Players Era Festival.

Baylor G Tounde Yessoufou — Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Even with Edgecombe ending up as the third pick in last year's NBA Draft, his early struggles with inefficiency and shooting mirror the experience Yessoufou is currently working through. Through Edgecombe's first nine games last season, excluding the 11 minutes he played against New Orleans in their seventh game, Edgecombe averaged 11.6 points, 3.1 assists, 5.6 rebounds, while shooting 42 percent from the field and a little over 26 percent from three-point range.

Edgecombe, like Yessoufou, struggled early as an on-ball creator and created the majority of his offense with transition opportunities and attacking closeouts off kick-out passes from teammates. However, as Baylor got into conference play, Edgecombe's confidence level seemed to rise, and his feel for the game as a passer, pick-and-roll player, and his jump shooting all rounded into form, and he began to resemble the player that was able to operate as a primary option for the Bahamian national team during the 2024 Olympic qualifiers.

After yesterday's win against Norfolk State, Yessoufou is averaging 17.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 31 percent from three. While Yessoufou's counting stats are better at this point, the roster around Yessoufou versus the team that surrounded Edgecombe provides context. Baylor's guard quartet of Robert Wright III, Duke transfer Jeremy Roach, Jayden Nunn, and Langston Love, were all true on-ball creators, with Wright and Roach operating as true point guards and offensive initiators. Having guards off that took pressure off Edgecombe as a self-creator and allowed his growth to happen organically, even if Edgecombe wasn't truly pushed to stretch his on-ball capabilities.

Baylor VJ Edgecombe — Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Between the four guards, and Miami transfer Norchard Omier, Edgecombe was able to a piece of the puzzle for Baylor's squad. With Yessoufou in tow alongside a entirely revamped roster for Scott Drew, Yessoufou has been the piece for Baylor, being one of Baylor's primary initiators from Day 1 and growing through reps and experience. With those reps, he's begun to turn the corner much like Edgecombe did around the time of the calendar. His 22 points against Memphis showcased improvements in his finishing and footwork around the rim as well as impressive self-created jumpers with stepbacks and crossovers that have been few and far between up to this point.

Edgecombe became Baylor basketball's highest-ever draft pick last summer, and those expectations were always going to be big shoes to fill. However, Yessoufou is still solidly in the mix as a first round pick, with him currently being projected between the 12th and 21st pick in recently released mock drafts by Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, and The Athletic. If he can continue to build on the flashes of improvement, he still has the potential to become Baylor's second consecutive lottery pick

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