One of the top big men in the class of 2021, Charles Bediako is the latest in what has become a long list of Canadian players to make waves in the United States.
Headed to Bradenton (Fla.) IMG for his senior season, the 6-foot-10 big man has great size and a body to carry much more muscle to go along with plenty of ability as a low post scorer and rebounder.
Down to a final 10 of Alabama, Baylor, Duke, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas and USC, Bediako would be a huge pickup for any of them. Today, we rank the contenders for the No. 22 player in the rising senior class.
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2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position
2022 Rankings: Top 75
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1. ALABAMA
Asking around about Bediako, two programs come up the most and the Crimson Tide are one of them. Nate Oats and his program have ample playing time available and they’ve done a great job of surrounding Bediako’s recruitment and covering all their bases with him.
Recruiting is on the rise in Tuscaloosa and they’d really like a primetime big man to feature like Bediako. They landed Keon Ambrose-Hylton and Josh Primo from his UPlay summer program during the 2020 recruiting cycle and may be the slightest of favorites to win out again in 2021.
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2. DUKE
The other name that comes up most often for Bediako is Duke. In fact there are many who believe that it is actually Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils that hold a bit of an edge for him – if anybody even really leads.
For as much as many consider it to be a perimeter-oriented team, Duke has been willing to feature big guys in the past and you don’t have to look far to see the success Vernon Carey, Marvin Bagley and Wendell Carter have recently had in Durham. Is 2020 McDonald’s All-American Mark Williams a one-and-done? That could matter.
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3. MICHIGAN
The Wolverines are another program that many recruiting Bediako believe to be in good shape. He’s going to need to be sold on the idea of playing alongside a true center like Hunter Dickinson, but the chance to expand his game and play more facing the basket could be appealing. The real sell here is Juwan Howard and his years of success in the NBA playing the same position as Bediako.
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4. BAYLOR
After those first three schools, it seems to be anybody’s guess about who is in the best shape. However, after being overlooked until the last minutes on a few of their most recent additions, nobody is sleeping on Scott Drew and the Bears in this one. They already have the No. 1 class to this point with versatile forwards Kendall Brown and Jeremy Sochan to go along with scoring guard Langston Love so they can afford to aim high for a big to anchor the group.
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5. TEXAS
Jericho Sims leaving will open up a lot of minutes during the 2021-22 season and the Horns are targeting Bediako to fill some of them. Jarrett Allen and Mohamed Bamba have proven to have early success under Shaka Smart before going to the NBA so that is a selling point. While Texas may be in the top five, it is kind of hanging on and still has a lot of work to do for a good shot here.
