Baylor struck recruiting gold on Wednesday, when it laid the bedrock of its 2025 class by landing the commitment of four-star win Tounde Yessoufou, a 6-foot-6 wing with a college-ready body and elite athleticism. Yessoufou chose Scott Drew’s Bears over finalists USC and Arizona State but also listed offers from programs such as Kansas, UConn and Kentucky.

Below, Rivals national analyst Rob Cassidy explores what Baylor is getting in Yessoufou, as well as what his pledge means for the bigger picture.

Yessoufou is one of the best transition weapons in the country, as the 6-foot-6, 215-pound, is possibly the most explosive and aggressive pure athlete in the 2025 class. The African-born wing is originally from the country of Benin but plays his high school hoops at California's St Joseph High School. Yessoufou, who loves to attack off the dribble, brings elite energy to both ends of the floor and shines as a hyper-versatile defender capable of staying in front of smaller guards on the perimeter as well as banging with larger forwards on the block. Offensively, he gets downhill with gusto and is capable of overwhelming defenders with his rare combination of quickness and strength. His calling is his ability to finish through contact, play above the rim and get to the free-throw line. The four-star forward is a tenacious and productive rebounder as well. He’s not going to give you a ton from a 3-point shooting perspective in his current form, but he’s improved a bit on that front as of late and is willing to pull the trigger from the perimeter when left open. He could also stand to become a better passer, as he is prone to making hasty and unwise choices with the ball in his hands at times. Possibly the most encouraging thing about Yessoufou’s game, however, is just how consistent it is from both an effort and production standpoint. There are very few games he checks into and fails to impact in multiple ways. He’s a double-double threat just about every time he steps on the floor at the prep level and is likely to find an important role as a freshman in Waco.

There was a time not long ago where it seemed like the California-based Yessoufou was leaning toward staying out west for college. Both Arizona State and USC are among his finalists, and he also took early shines to programs such as Stanford, Arizona and Washington as well. That’s all to say that Scott Drew extracting him from the Pacific Time Zone was no easy task. Yessoufou becomes the Bears’ first commit of the 2025 cycle and is both on the verge of five-star status and a possible McDonald’s All-American. Baylor feels likely to sign a class resembling last cycle’s three-man haul, in which they emphasized quality of quantity and supplemented young talent with veterans from the transfer portal.