BYU Basketball Offers 7-Foot-2 JUCO Center Anton Bonke

BYU offered a 2024 prospect Friday in 7-foot-2 JUCO big man Anton Bonke. Bonke has three years of eligibility remaining starting in 2024.

I spoke to Bonke, who told me Coach Pope has been in touch with him for a few weeks now and extended the offer to him. Pope was in Tempe to watch Bonke in person. The head coach of Eastern Arizona, Cameron Turner (not in the photo) is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Bonke has a unique story. He is from the island country of Vanuatu, located in the South Pacific with a population of 335k. He is an accomplished rower that competed in world championships prior to joining Eastern Arizona. Bonke told me that he started playing basketball at the age of 15.

Although new to the game of basketball, Bonke has surprisingly good feel for the game and moves well for his size. He has a strong build — not surprising for a world class rower — and already shows the ability to protect the rim on defense. One national recruiting analyst told me that Bonke may not make a big impact right away but that he has high upside.

Bonke recently got on the D1 radar in the past month, with BYU his first P6 offer. I expect more high profile offers to come his way. Currently, he holds offers from Southern Miss, SUU, Tarleton State, UMKC, Northern Arizona, and others.

Anton told me that he has talked with BYU coaches about visiting, but hasn’t locked in dates yet. The early signing period for college hoops is November 8-15. Bonke doesn’t know yet when he will sign, although I bet he waits until Spring.

You can watch highlights of Bonke below.

Basketball trainer Theo Odume saw Bonke in October and made this video breakdown.