The BYU men’s basketball program is reportedly in the running to land the services of a player whom many consider to be the best in the transfer portal so far.
On Tuesday, 247 Sports’ Travis Branham reported that BYU — along with Michigan, Louisville, Duke and St. John’s — “will be teams to monitor” for the services of Kansas transfer big man Flory Bidunga.
Most outlets that have released lists of top players in the portal have Bidunga ranked No. 1. Bidunga has also declared for the 2026 NBA draft so he can test those waters, though the chances of him returning to college are high, as he is considered a second-round draft prospect.
Branham added that the other four schools in the running “all sound as though they will be in aggressive pursuit of the top transfer” but he did not include BYU in that list.
He also mentioned that Auburn could get involved.
Later Tuesday, multiple outlets reported Bidunga will visit Louisville this week.
Listed at 6-foot-10 and 235 pounds, Bidunga hails from the Congo. He moved to the United States when he was 15 and played high school basketball in Indiana, where he was a top-20 prospect in the Class of 2024.
He was mostly used as a key reserve during his freshman season, but as a sophomore he was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and was an All-Big 12 First Team selection.
He finished in the top five in the country in blocks and blocks per game and was 10th nationally in field goal percentage. He started 34 of Kansas’ 35 games and averaged 13.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per contest.
Against BYU on Jan. 31 he tallied a season-high four assists to go along with 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks as the Jayhawks won, 90-82.
Bidunga would bring a high level of talent to a position of great need for the Cougars. They were already thin up front during the 2025-26 season as Keba Keita battled injury and other big men were inconsistent or unproductive, and they stand to be even thinner heading into next season as Keita is out of eligibility and seldom-used Xavion Staton has already announced his intention to transfer.