Viewed as a potential first-round pick after one season at Baylor, Tounde Yessoufou withdrew from the draft earlier this week and will transfer to St. John’s for his sophomore campaign. The 20-year-old wing secured a lucrative NIL payday from the Red Storm, according to basketball insider Adam Zagoria, who reports (via Twitter) that Yessoufou’s deal was worth “close to” $6MM.
A native of Benin, Yessoufou averaged 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.6 assists per game in 34 appearances for the Bears in 2025/26. His shooting slash line was .465/.293/.746.
For what it’s worth, $6MM would be roughly the same first-year salary as the 11th overall pick in the 2026 draft, but rookie scale contracts are guaranteed for the first two years, with team options in years three and four.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report has updated his ranked list of potential free agents, with Heat wing Norman Powell (No. 10), Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. (No. 20) and Cavaliers forward Dean Wade (No. 30) among the 70 players listed.
- Marves Fairley, who claims he paid Terry Rozier as part of an illegal gambling scheme, also said he paid a Chinese Basketball Association player so he could win bets on a pair of CBA games in March 2023, per Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Fairley made the admission in a Brooklyn federal on Thursday when he pleaded guilty to seven felony charges stemming from two separate cases. While Fairley didn’t name that player, prosecutors said Fairley paid Antonio Blakeneya former NBA guard who was charged with wire fraud in January.
- Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link via ESPN), commissioner Adam Silver said the NBA plans to implement an automated AI system to quickly review out-of-bounds calls in the future, rather than leaving it up to the officials. Silver suggested all “so-called objective calls” would eventually fall under that review system.
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