Bam Adebayo Commits to Kentucky Wildcats; Highlights and Scouting Report

Another big-time prospect in the 2016 class is off the board as the early signing period is coming to a close.

This time, it's Edrice 'Bam' Adebayo, who announced his commitment to the Kentucky Wildcats Tuesday morning live on ESPN's Mike and Mike show. He committed to UK while holding offers from just about every big college program there is, including Kansas, Arizona, Louisville, and North Carolina.

However, it was NC State that was viewed as the favorite for much of his recruitment. That was even true as of early Monday, but as the day wore on, rumors of Kentucky surging into the lead for Bam began emerging, and it turned out to be true.

A 6-9, 235-pound forward out of Northside High School (NC), Bam is ranked as the No. 7-overall prospect on Rivals, No. 14 on 247 Sports and No. 6 on ESPN. He's easily one of the most physically intimidating prospects in the class and someone who can be a force in the paint as soon as he steps onto a college campus.

There may not be a more fierce dunker in the 2016 class than Bam, whose name serves him well with how much force he puts into the ball when he's dunking or blocking it. Here is an except of Bam's scouting report via ESPN:

He's improved his skill level tremendously over the past year. More noticeably his favorite move on blocks is to spin baseline and power up to the rim. When he gets deep into the paint his explosiveness, touch and ability to finish around the basket with either hand is impressive. Any ball off the back board he is quick to it, usually first among all players. Will drive a smaller or less mobile defender from the foul line area with a long step. Moves so well he can sprint out and hard hedge screens or make an emergency switch with a smaller teammate. A big asset in his game is in how he runs the floor with both acceleration and effort and when he sets a ball screen he brings speed to the screen and then makes a hard roll to the rim.

His nick name is "Bam". His post-up game has made great strides and when you combine that with his touch he becomes a legitimate inside scoring threat. He contributes to the game in many ways such as running the floor, shot blocking and finishing of lob passes at the rim. His calling card is his work on the backboard as he goes after a miss shots with effort and his quick vertical and will try and grab it or tip it. He owns a great body, with strength, mobility and developing skill which makes him a prospect that oozes potential down the road and is still highly productive right now.

Adebayo now joins five-star forwards Wenyen Gabriel and Sacha Killeya-Jones to go with five-star point guard De'Aaron Fox as UK commits in the 2016 class. Those four alone will lock up a top-two class for Kentucky in 2016, and one or two more commitments should be enough to dethrone Duke for the top spot.

And here are some of Bam's highlights: