Breaking Down Flory Bidunga's Pending Stay-or-Go NBA Draft Decision

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - While we still have several more months until the 2026-27 college basketball season, Louisville is already generating an insane amount of hype.

Over the last couple months, head coach Pat Kelsey and his staff have been hard at work on the roster construction front. As a result, the Cardinals are welcoming the top-ranked transfer portal class in the sport (per 247Sports), and it has served as the catalyst fueling lofty expectations for year three under Kelsey.

The headline of this portal haul is none other than Flory Bidunga. The former Kansas forward/center is the top-ranked player to enter the portal in this cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, and he committed to UofL well over a month ago back on Apr. 12.

However, there is a chance that Bidunga never suits up for the Cardinals. It's not because of portal reasons, as the transfer window has been long closed. When he originally entered the portal, Bidunga simultaneously declared for the NBA Draft while maintaining his collegiate eligibility. Fast forward to the present, and he is currently in Chicago for the week-long NBA Draft Combine.

Bidunga has until May 27th to decide whether or not he wants to stay in the draft process or go back to college to play for Louisville. So what will he inevitably decide? Let's break it down:

Five-on-five scrimmages are still ongoing up in the Windy City, as the combine lasts until Sunday, May 17. But so far, Bidunga has looked solid in these runs. In game two, he had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, along with 10 rebounds, two assists, two turnovers and one block. Then in game four, Bidunga notched 10 points on 5-of-7 shootings, on top of five rebounds, two steals, and assist and a turnover.

Sure, it's not as dominant as he was during the 2025-26 season with the Jayhawks. The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-Big 12 selection averaged 13.3 points and a team-best 9.0 rebounds per game, along with the fourth-most blocks in the nation at 2.6 per game. But that being said, he's at least been consistent in these runs, and hasn't looked like he doesn't belong.

That being said, earlier in the week, Bidunga raised some eyebrows - and not for good reasons. Below scrimmages got started, all 73 combine participants had their measurables taken, and Bidunga was considerly smaller than expected.

On Kansas' official website, the native of the Democratic Republic of Congo is listed at 6-foot-10 and 235 pounds. But at the combine, he was measured 6-foot-7.75 without shoes. Of the 16 centers taking part in the combine, he was the second-shortest, ahead of only St. John's Zuby Ejiofor (6-foot-7.5). His 8-foot-10.5 standing reach was also the second-shortest, with only Arizona's Tobe Awaka behind him at 8-foot-9.

Giving Bidunga the benefit of the doubt, his other measurables were much better. Among the 16 centers, his 10.5" hand width was second, his 9.5" hand width was fifth, and his 7-foot-3.35 wingspan was seventh.

The discourse surrounding Bidunga's size has been present during his time in college, but he has at least been skilled and athletic enough to overcome that and perform at an elite level. But make no mistake: once he does enter the NBA - whether it's this year or later on down the line - his size will almost certainly be something that holds him back if he wants to remain a true center.

Don't believe me? Just look at recent mock drafts in the wake of early developments at the combine. Bleacher Report and NBA Draft room updated their respective first and second round mocks, and neither listed Bidunga at all. ESPN and On3 published updated mocks following the NBA Draft Lottery last weekend, and both tabbed Bidunga at No. 41 to the Miami Heat

Considering there are 30 teams in the association, Bidunga would firmly be a second round pick if he did opt to stay in the draft process. In fact, some of these outlets that publish mock drafts believe that it's more likely that he goes completely undrafted vs. even sniffing the first round. Sure, all it takes is for one team to fall in love with you, but it doesn't seem - at least right now - that teams view Bidunga as a potential first rounder.

So which way is Bidunga leaning? At this moment, he's simply locked into the draft process, and hasn't made a decision one way or another.

“I mean, not really," he said earlier this week if he is leaning towards staying in the draft process or going back to college. "I feel like it is a day-to-day thing. Obviously, I'm here, and it's an honor to be here. I just want to hear from them [NBA teams]. If I have a good seed [draft standing], the NBA is my dream, so I will probably be staying in for sure.”

Of course, once the combine wraps up Bidunga still has roughly 10 days to decide what he wants to do. During that time, he'll undoubtedly meet with a variety of teams, and subsequently gauge their respective interest in him.

You never want to completely rule something out, but as of this writing, based on what has transpired up to this point, it would be a little stunning to see Bidunga bypass the opportunity to play for Louisville. Barring an extreme turn of events, Cardinals fans should expect the top-ranked transfer to play in the KFC Yum! Center this winter.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram for the latest news.

More Cardinals Stories