Basketball's No. 1 Center Prospect for 2027 to Visit Cal Soon

All big-time college basketball programs are recruiting Lewis Uvwo, a five-star prospect who has planned four visits, including Cal

Lewis Uvwo (32) looks like a natural | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

A five-star basketball recruit ranked as the nation’s No. 1 center prospect in the class of 2027 is planning to visit Cal on the weekend that Cal plays its first football game of the season.

Lewis Uvwo, a 6-foot-10 center from Nigeria who is now attending Prolific Prep in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has only been playing basketball for three years but has shown tremendous potential as a basketball player.

He’s rated a five-star prospect by every reputable recruiting site, and one of his four planned visits over the next few weeks will be a trip to Berkeley to visit Cal and head coach Mark Madsen.

According to On3, Uvwo plans to visit Baylor this weekend (August 28-30), then will visit Cal the following weekend, September 4-6. Cal is scheduled to open its football season on Saturday night, September 5 in Berkeley against UCLA.

Uvwo’s next visit is to Kentucky on September 11-13, and finally he plans to make a visit to Providence on September 18-20.

Besides those schools, Uvwo also has offers from Duke, Michigan, Kansas, North Carolina, Houston, Illinois, Texas, UCLA, Louisville and many others.

The 247Sports site ranks him as the No. 1 center prospect in the class of 2027 and the seventh-best prospect overall. ESPN ranks Uvwo No. 1 at the center spot and No. 8 overall, and Rivals/On3 ranks him No. 1 at center and No. 9 overall.

Uvwo’s offensive numbers are not eye-popping, but his shot-blocking skills are, as you can see here:

In his seven games at the 2026 Nike EYBL Peach Jam in mid-July, Uvwo averaged 11.0 points, 9.4 rebounds and 6.0 blocked shots. In 28 summer games starting in the spring, he averaged 9.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.5 blocks.

His introduction to basketball began in Nigeria, when he was 15 years old.  His bike broke down, and people asked if he played basketball.  Having never played basketball, he brought the possibility of playing basketball to his home, and he gave it a try:

Prolific Prep used to be located in the Bay Area, in Napa, California, but last year it was moved to its current site in Florida.

Cal is coming off a season in which it finished with a 22-12 record, including 9-9 in the ACC. Cal lost four starters off that team, but reloaded by adding five transfers and several incoming freshmen who are likely to get playing time.