Eric Musselman and his Arkansas basketball program just landed its second five-star signing of the 2023 recruiting class. Baye Fall committed and signed his National Letter of Intent on Tuesday, November 15th.
Fall, a 6’10”, 205-pound center (per 247 Sports), joins point guard Layden Blocker in Arkansas Basketball’s 2023 recruiting class. The 2023 class currently ranks 24th and sixth in the SEC in 247 Sports rankings.
Fall and cousin Assane Diop, both out of Denver, Colorado, were thought to be a packaged deal and had previously visited Fayetteville together earlier this year. However, Diop opted to stay home and sign with the Colorado Buffaloes.
Musselman continues to rack up five-star players for Arkansas basketball. Fall is the fifth in two years.
Fall (along with Blocker, Anthony Black, Nick Smith Jr, and Jordan Walsh) is one of five five-star recruits to join the Arkansas basketball program in the last two years. Arkansas has only gotten commitments from nine such players since 2003. (Olu Famutimi, Al Jefferson, Bobby Portis, and B.J. Young are the other four.)
ESPN’s national director of recruiting, Paul Biancardi, speaks highly of Fall. Per an article from WholeHogSports, Biancardi described him as a potentially “tenacious offensive put-back threat” and a prospect with a “long frame that has vertical explosion and lateral agility.”
Not only is Fall exciting around the rim, but he is showing flashes of being able to be a modern stretch-five in the professional ranks. Biancardi added, “His shooting touch is coming along, and his three-point shot is capable at this point.”
That modern NBA build could be why he is already getting noticed by professional scouts. NBA Draft Room has him as the 17th overall prospect in the 2024 NBA Draft. That publication also compares his game to a souped-up version of former Razorback Daniel Gafford. Other mock drafts have him as high as fourth.