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Texas Lands Top Prep Recruit Mohamed Bamba

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AUSTIN (AP) — Texas basketball coach Shaka Smart has won the recruiting sweepstakes for highly-ranked forward Mohamed Bamba.

The 6-foot-11 Bamba signed with the Longhorns on Thursday, picking Texas over Duke, Kentucky, Michigan and Harvard. Bamba is ranked by national recruiting services as one of the top players in the country and already projected by some as an early 2018 NBA draft pick.

Signing Bamba is a huge boost for Smart after a 22-loss season, Texas' worst in more than 30 years. Freshman center Jarrett Allen has entered this year's NBA draft and freshman guard Andrew Jones is still considering whether to return to Texas.

Bamba average 12.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.4 blocks as a high school senior in Westtown, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia, and was a McDonald's All-American.

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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