Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics
Virginia Extends Offers to Two Power Forwards in Class of 2025
The Virginia men's basketball program extended two more scholarship offers on Wednesday, both to power forwards in the recruiting class of 2025.
UVA became the latest in a long line of major conference programs to make an offer to four-star Nikola Bundalo. A 6'9", 210-pound power forward out of Green High School in Uniontown, Ohio, Bundalo has been one of the biggest stock-risers of the year, picking up more than 15 major conference offers since April. Bundalo now holds offers from Purdue, Ohio State, Iowa, Creighton, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Illinois, Xavier, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Rutgers, Georgetown, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Penn State, and others. Virginia joined this heated recruiting battle with an offer on Wednesday, as reported by Bundalo on Instagram.
Bundalo is a consensus four-star prospect according to 247Sports, Rivals, and On3. 247 is the highest on him, ranking Bundalo as the No. 21 overall recruit in the class of 2025, the No. 6 power forward in the country, and the No. 2 player in the state of Ohio. In taking a brief look at some of his highlights, those recruiting numbers make a lot of sense.
Bundalo is already a well-rounded basketball player even as a rising high school junior. At 6'9", Bundalo knows how to use his body to gain advantage in the post and has good hands and smooth movements to catch the ball inside and maneuver himself to the basket. He has a series of good post moves and is an impressively good cutter off the ball given his size, but he is also comfortable putting the ball on the floor and can step back to the three-point line and knock down a shot from the perimeter. An active defender, Bundalo can time his jumps well to effectively contest and block shots at the rim. It's no wonder why so many programs, Virginia included, are lining up to recruit him.
While UVA joined a busy party in the recruitment for Bundalo, the Cavaliers did the opposite with another recruit out of the class of 2025, becoming the first major conference program to extend an offer to London Jemison, a 6'8" wing from Connecticut. Jemison, who holds offers from Rhode Island, Temple, Boston University, Saint Joseph's, George Mason, Fairfield, Yale, UMass, Bryant, and Brown, reported the offer from Virginia on Twitter on Wednesday night.
Jemison played the first three years of his high school career at Northwest Catholic in West Hartford, Connecticut, but announced in May that he would be transferring to St. Thomas More School, a college-preparatory school in Oakdale, Connecticut. St. Thomas More has a highly-successful basketball program and the school offers postgraduate courses. Jemison has reclassified to the class of 2025, but is maintaining the option to graduate in the class of 2024 and go to college next year.
ESPN rates Jemison as a four-star recruit and ranks him as the No. 18 power forward in the country in the class of 2025 and the No. 2 recruit in the state of Connecticut. Jemison is athletic and strong, doesn't shy away from contact in the paint, and is a ferocious rebounder on both ends of the floor. Given his size, strength, and athleticism, Jemison has the tools to be an elite defender as well.
Virginia has now extended offers to six players in the recruiting class of 2025:
- five-star power forward Bryson Tiller (Atlanta, GA)
- four-star point guard Chance Mallory (Charlottesville, VA)
- four-star combo guard Derek Dixon (Washington, D.C.)
- four-star wing Jacob Wilkins (Atlanta, GA)
- four-star power forward Nikola Bundalo (Uniontown, OH)
- four-star power forward London Jemison (Bloomfield, CT)
Stay updated on all the latest Virginia basketball recruiting news, including offers, visits, and commitments here: Latest Virginia Basketball Recruiting News and Updates
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