4-Star Class of ‘19 center Qudus Wahab has committed to Georgetown. Wahab chose Georgetown over Pitt, Virginia Tech, UConn and Syracuse.

Basic Information:

Height: 6’10”

Weight: 230 pounds

Year: Class of 2019

School: Flint Hill School (VA)

Recruiting Profile:

ESPN: 4-star recruit, not in the ESPN Top 100

Rivals: 4-star recruit, #115 prospect

247Sports: 4-star recruit, #113 prospect

Scouting Report:

Wahab immigrated from Nigeria four years ago and played two years at Virginia Academy before transferring to Flint Hill for his junior and senior season. While he is relatively inexperienced in terms of organized basketball experience, he has improved rapidly since arriving in the US and should be expected to continue on that trajectory.

At 6’10, Wahab has a lean and athletic frame with wide shoulders, but he has room to add more strength when he hits a college fitness program, particularly in his lower body. He runs the floor well and is a strong rim protector. While I wouldn’t describe him as an explosive leaper, he gets off the floor quick and has good timing and instincts as a shot blocker.

Offensively, Wahab is consistently active and is a strong finisher under the rim both out of the pick and roll and as an offensive rebounder. He has shown the beginnings of a face-up game, with a couple of dribble moves and a developing mid-range jumper, and he has worked hard on his right-handed jump hook, a shot that Jessie Govan has had great success with.

Recruitment:

Wahab becomes the third Class of 2019 center prospect to sign for Patrick Ewing’s squad, joining Timothy Ighoefe and Malcolm Wilson, though Wilson may be a candidate for a first-year redshirt.

Roster Implications:

Taking three centers in the same class presents some concern for roster balance, but with Govan, Trey Mourning, and Kaleb Johnson leaving after this season, Georgetown will have some frontcourt minutes to replace. Omer Yurtseven should take Govan’s spot as the starting center, but there will be 10-15 minutes available behind him for Wahab or Timothy Ighoefe. It is also worth mentioning that it’s possible that Yurtseven will head for the pros after one year of Ewing’s tutelage, in which case Wahab becomes a near necessity for the Hoyas.

Wahab is not quite as physically imposing as Ighoefe or as naturally athletic as Wilson, but he’s more polished than either of them and appears to be the most ready to take on immediate minutes. All three have similarities as athletic rim-running big men with shot-blocking ability; clearly, that is the image that Ewing has for big men in his scheme. While Govan has been fantastic offensively, the Hoyas will benefit from more length and interior defense in the future, especially as James Akinjo and Mac McClung continue to take on more offensive responsibility.

It’s also worth noting that with Antwan Walker’s dismissal and the impending graduation of Govan, Trey Mourning, Kaleb Johnson, and Greg Malinowski, the Hoyas would still have two more open scholarships should Wahab sign on. In my view, it is imperative that at least one and possibly two of those scholarships go toward athletic wing players. Top 100 prospect and DePaul de-commit Terrence Shannon is at the top of the list for me. The Hoyas have also been mentioned on small forward Myron Gardner, as well as guards Cole Anthony and Damion Baugh.

So far Patrick Ewing has done a good job identifying bringing in talent, as four of his five starters are recruits from his first two classes. Bringing in Wahab is a great step towards shoring up the frontcourt depth and replenishing the young talent pipeline, and it never hurts to take a kid away from that school up near the Canadian border.

Highlights below:

Welcome to the Hilltop, Qudus Wahab!

Scholarship Table