The card
| Bamba Touray | Yann Kamagate | |
|---|---|---|
| CBR board, 2028 | No. 2 | No. 3 |
| Height | 7-foot | 7-foot |
| High school | Prolific Prep | Saint Francis, La Cañada Flintridge, CA |
| State board | Florida | California |
| 247Sports Composite | No. 3 overall, No. 2 center | No. 2 overall, No. 1 center |
| 247Sports own list | five-star | No. 1 overall, No. 1 center |
| On3 | No. 2 overall, No. 1 at position | not listed in our sourcing |
| Rivals Industry | No. 3 overall, top center | not listed in our sourcing |
| Club circuit | Puma Pro16 | adidas 3SSB, Compton Magic |
| Production | 10.2 pts, 8.8 reb, 2.3 blk, Puma Pro16 16U, per HottyToddy.com | 13.9 pts, 10.4 reb, 2.9 blk through two 3SSB sessions, led the circuit in rebounding, per 247Sports |
| Offers reported | Georgia, Florida State, Ole Miss, Marquette, among others, per HottyToddy.com | Indiana, North Carolina, Kansas, Baylor, Arizona, Texas A&M, Houston, Creighton, USC, Washington, per 247Sports |
| Status | Uncommitted | Uncommitted |
Face-up or the rim
Two seven-footers in the same class is a luxury. Two seven-footers with different games is a decision. The scouting language on Touray is a big with guard skills, which in the modern five-out college offense means a center who can catch on the perimeter, face up, and make a read instead of waiting for a post entry. The scouting language on Kamagate is rebounding and rim protection at a rate nobody else in his age group matched on the adidas circuit.
Those are the two things a staff asks about every big. Can he play away from the rim, and can he own the rim. The best ones do both by their junior year of college. At 16, most do one.
The case for Touray
Three services, three different numbers, and Touray is top-three on all of them. 247Sports' Composite has him No. 3 overall and No. 2 among centers. On3 has him No. 2 overall and No. 1 at the position. Rivals' Industry ranking has him No. 3 overall and the top center in the class. When you average the industry rather than pick the one list you like, Touray is the most consistently valued big man in 2028, and that is the whole reason he sits a spot above Kamagate on our board.
The description that keeps coming back is the one that matters for a seven-footer in this era. HottyToddy.com called him a 7-footer with guard skills. Modern bigs stay on the floor with a face-up drive and a short-roll or pop. A like-for-like post-up is a late-clock tool, not the default. Every staff in the country runs some version of the five-out now, and the big who can catch at the elbow, quarter-face, and decide in half a second is the big who stays on the floor in the last four minutes. That is the profile scouts keep writing about Touray, and it is the hardest profile to find.
Wes will point at the rebounding numbers, and he should. Kamagate's spring was better on paper. Touray put up 10.2 and 8.8 on the Puma Pro16 circuit, a different league with a different field, and raw averages across two circuits are the least transferable number in recruiting.
The honest hole in my case: Touray's reported offer list is four schools plus "among others." Kamagate's is ten, and they are bigger names. If offers are the market's opinion, the market currently disagrees with me.
VerdictI'd take Touray. Three services put him in the top three and one calls him a seven-footer with guard skills. I want the player nobody has a low opinion of.
I want the player nobody has a low opinion of.
The case for Kamagate
I am not going to argue about who the services like. I am going to argue about what a college coach does with each of them in October of their freshman year.
Kamagate led all of adidas 3SSB in rebounding. Not his team, not his age group, the entire circuit. 13.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks through two sessions, per 247Sports. Rebounding at that rate against that field is the single most portable skill in this comparison, because rebounding does not need a play called for it. Post touches are something a staff designs. The freshman who rebounds and runs does not need a called post to help in October. A freshman who is skilled and light waits his turn.
And look at who is recruiting him. Indiana, North Carolina, Kansas, Baylor, Arizona, Texas A&M, Houston, Creighton, USC, Washington. That is a list of programs that win with defense and size, Houston most of all, and they have all decided this is the big man they want. Ten offers from that tier is not a coincidence. It is a scouting consensus expressed in scholarships.
One more thing Dale skipped. On 247Sports' own board, not the Composite, Kamagate is the No. 1 player in the class of 2028. Not the No. 1 center. The No. 1 player. Our board has him third. Somebody is wrong, and it is worth saying out loud that it might be us.
Dale's best counter is that I am leaning on one service and one circuit. He is right that the Composite has Touray close, and that a great spring is not a career.
VerdictI'd take Kamagate, and I'd move him to No. 2 on our own board. He led a national circuit in rebounding and ten high-major programs offered. That is the version of a center who helps a college team as a freshman.
Who is the best center in 2028?
Writers split. You break the tie.
