During the Virginia Top 80, four players from Mountain Mission were introduced. Invited were 2016s 6’7” Jakub Mijakowski, 6’10” Maciej Bender, 6’9” Jethro Tshimumpa, and 6’5” Harold Baruti. Since their break through performance at the Virginia Top 80, Tshimumpa is now a Top 100 rated player and committed to Arizona State of the PAC-12. Bender has picked up offers from Georgia Tech, Arizona State, Ole Miss, etc…and should be ranked in the top 100 as soon as these national guys see him this season.
Next in the line of national recruits is Harold Baruti. After his performance at the Virginia Top 80 we wrote, “Baruti is an elite athletic specimen who carries a great work ethic and college ready frame. He has a non-stop motor that ran hot through camp. Baruti’s Camp Coach Ethan Walker stated, “Harold creates an instant mis-match with his strong frame and inside-out game. No one in camp worked harder that Baruti, MOTOR MOTOR MOTOR!” While Baruti had has great touch beyond the arc, we would like to see him continue develop his game more between 5 feet and 21 feet.”
This weekend Baruti picked up an offer from SMU, the first high major offer. There has been some questions as to what position Baruti plays, however Mountain Mission Head Coach Pawel Mrozik says it is a no brainer, “Baruti is a high major wing. He has been terrific so far in our practices, with a much improved shot and handles. Every play he just competes.”
Let’s talk about Baruti’s high major physical dimensions. He is a very strong and wide shouldered 6’5”, which shows glaringly with his tenacious defense. He has great length with a 6’11” wing span and is around 200 pounds. Baruti is very explosive with a vertical leap over 35”, which he shows often in games.
First it was Tshimumpa, soon after Bender started taking off, now it is Baruti’s turn. But in the end, what is there not to like about a highly explosive wing who competes on defense and has deep range and touch'