BYU Basketball Among Finalists for 2021 Tanzanian Big Man Atiki Ally Atiki

BYU is in the midst of a season that looks to cultimate in a NCAA Tournament appearance, but coaches are still hot on the recruiting trail and are putting the finishing touches on the 2021 recruiting class.

The last BYU 2021 high school target is Atiki Ally Atiki. Atiki is originally from Tanzania and went to the London Basketball Academy a couple years ago to get on the radar of college teams. Atiki has been recruited by BYU, Baylor, Oklahoma, San Diego State, West Virginia and Baylor, among others. Sources close to Atiki have indicated that BYU is in the final three along with Oklahoma and San Diego State. West Virginia recently offered him and Michigan State is recruiting him heavier, so that could potentially change. Below is what he posted back in August of the schools recruiting him at the time.

Atiki is a 6-foot-10 or 6-foot-11 (depending on who you ask), 235 pounds big man with a 7-foot-2 wingspan. Rivals rates him as a 3-Star prospect but Atiki has largely flown under the radar. According to Brandon Goble at JUCO Advocate, his organization found him in 2017 in Tanzania and they helped bring him over to London Basketball Academy in December 2018. Atiki lived in a stone hut in a city called Mwanza and “kicked the crap out everyone” during his first games in October 2019 at LBA. Atiki’s team has yet to play this season but they are hoping to start their season this week.

Atiki came over as a raw prospect but has developed both his body and game. Below is his body transformation in less than three years.

Atiki has great athleticism for his size and projects to be an elite rebounder and shot blocker. The below clip is small taste of his athleticism.

The early signing period already was in November but Atiki can officially sign with a school starting April 14 once the National Signing period begins for college basketball. BYU is recruiting Atiki hard and are among his top schools, but they have some competition with the other P5 schools out there. He would be the third signee for BYU in this class along with Jake Wahlin and Fousseyni Traore.

You can watch Atiki’s highlights below: