4-star center Patrick Ngongba visits Kentucky

Patrick Ngongba, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound center from the class of 2024, is on an official visit to Kentucky this weekend.

High School Top Recruiting got footage of Ngongba making his way around UK’s campus alongside his family, even taking in the football Cats’ win over Florida.

Ngongba started his visit with the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday and will be leaving campus on Sunday.

This is the third recruit to take an official visit in September, with the other two being five-star guard Boogie Fland and four-star forward Billy Richmond.

At this time, Ngongba is down to eight schools, with Kentucky being one of the schools that made the list. The other seven schools are Michigan, Duke, Kansas State, UConn, Indiana, Providence, and Kansas.

With his latest recruitment, Ngongba has taken only two other official visits so far with Michigan and Providence.

As for official visits in the future, he plans to visit UConn, Duke, and Kansas State all in October. With all of these schools in mind, he wants to go to a school that will make him better so he can take the next step in playing in the NBA.

“For one, I want to go to a school that can develop me,” Ngongba recently told Joe Tipton of On3 about what he’s looking for in a college program. “I want to get to the next level, so a program and a coach that can get me there. Also, I want to go somewhere that has a family environment. A place I can bond with the players, play video games and hang out.

“How the coaches play, how they look to use me in the system will definitely be a factor and something I look at, but it won’t be the biggest thing for me.”

Fellow On3 reporter Jamie Shaw believes Kansas State is currently in the lead for the talented big man, largely due to family ties.

Kansas State has a long-standing relationship with Ngongba. Ngongba’s mom, Tajama (Abraham) Ngongba, is the head coach of the Virgin Islands Women’s National Team. Kansas State Assistant Coach Jareem Dowling is on the staff of the Virginia Islands Men’s National Team. Jerome Tang also lived in the Virgin Islands until he was ten. Kansas State has recruited Ngongba the longest and the hardest.

With Kentucky only having one verbal commitment so far with Somto Cyril, John Calipari and Co. are hoping to start gaining some traction on some recruits and to begin adding to their 2024 haul in the near future.

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