Tennessee is no stranger to players outside of the United States on their men’s basketball roster. This past season alone, the Vols had four international players on their active roster. In Rick Barnes’ time as head coach, UT has brought in six players outside of the US borders, including two players from Canada — center/forward Kyle Alexander and forward Ray Kasongo.
On Friday night, Barnes and his staff extended an offer to another Canadian center.
Charles Bediako, a five-star center from St. Catharines, Ontario, tweeted out on Friday night that he picked up an offer from Tennessee, adding to his impressive offer list.
Blessed to receive an offer from the University of Tennessee! ? pic.twitter.com/01yUwX0YN7
— Charles A. Bediako (@CBediako) March 28, 2020
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Bediako is the No. 21 overall prospect and No. 3 center in the 2021 class. He’s also rated as the No. 1 player in Ontario by those rankings. The 6-foot-11, 215-pound center holds offers from Duke, Ohio State, Michigan State, Louisville, Memphis, Florida, Xavier, and others.
The tall, lanky center boasts a 7-foot-2 wingspan and has picked up more attention after showing progress on the Canadian U19 team in the FIBA World Cup after playing for their U17 team the previous year.
At one point, Bediako was considering reclassifying to the 2020 class, but he has since decided against that and will stay in the 2021 cycle.
Bediako moves very well and is an athletic big man. He moves and looks similar to Kyle Alexander did at Tennessee, but his offensive game looks a little more developed at this stage in his career. He has some good post moves and plays more physical than you might imagine for his lanky frame. He’s put on a little more weight than his highlight tape shows below, but he still is relatively skinny for his height.
With the Canadian U19 team at the FIBA World Cup, Bediako averaged 8.9 points, 5.1 assists, and almost a block per game in just 17.6 minutes a game in seven contests according to ProBallers.com. He shot 65.4 percent overall and 64.3 percent from the free throw line.
Tennessee doesn’t have any commitments in their 2021 class so far, but the Vols are pursuing several highly-rated prospects in the cycle. Forward/center is a big point of emphasis in the 2021 cycle for UT, and Bediako is now another name on that board for the Vols.
