PF Bernard Kouma commits to Illinois

Nobody had ever heard of Giorgi Bezhanishvili before he committed to Illinois, and that turned out just fine.

Maybe this’ll be the same.

Bronx power forward Bernard Kouma committed to Illinois on Monday night, announcing his decision via a tweet.

The 6-foot-10, 200-pound forward attends Our Savior Lutheran in Bronx, New York, and isn’t ranked by 247.

But he seems to be talented. From News 12 The Bronx, Kouma has the fifth-highest GPA in his senior class and sings in the choir. Kouma is originally from the country of Chad, and was named to the Great Atlantic Conference North’s Second Team this season.

From 247’s Derek Piper in December:

Kouma joins Antwan January and Kofi Cockburn as commits in Illinois’ 2019 class. The Illini finished the 2018-19 season with a 12-21 record, and they currently have no more scholarships available for the class of 2019 unless someone does not sign or transfers away.

Candidates for that include January and redshirt-freshman Anthony Higgs.

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