Baye Ndongo Scouting Report
Top-tier athleticism, good habits, and intangibles, on top of thriving in a reduced role, make Baye Ndongo an enticing prospect to be a rotational five in the NBA. But when? This year? 2026? Find out:
Baye Ndongo (#11, Georgia Tech): Sophomore, 6'9"
Power Forward/Center — Date of Birth: Jan 1, 2003 (22 years old)
Introduction
As a native of Senegal, Ndongo represented his country at the FIBA U19 World Cup in 2021. Hereafter, he became a wanted commodity among college programs in the US. While attending high school in New York, Ndongo continued at Putnam Science Academy, helping them win their fourth championship in the last five years. Hereafter, Ndongo committed to Coach Stoudamire and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
As a sophomore, Ndongo’s combination of top-tier athleticism, defensive versatility, and play-finishing around the basket gives him a clear role in the ACC. He earned All-Rookie honors. Hereafter, he’s taken the expected leap as a sophomore, after attending the NBA G League Elite Camp while testing the waters in the 2024 NBA Draft. There’s more to his game that’s feasible to translate in the NBA. That’s the emphasis of this scouting report.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-9, Ndongo’s durability stands out. That gains more value, considering his great athleticism and consistent motor. Ndongo has broad shoulders and a well-filled frame while listed at 240 pounds. He has excellent core strength, helping the fluidity of his hips. This leads to better mobility while defending, as he’s more comfortable using his feet to create angles when scoring in the post.
Ndongo is a good leaper despite his strong build, compensating for the lack of a few inches of size. At a 7’2.75” wingspan, he has great length to complete his profile. His complete package checks essential boxes for NBA scouts, where durability is the main sell.
Defense
Catch-and-shoot
Ndongo’s drop-coverage-heavy scheme on defense has to change once he enters the league. A center with his combination of foot speed and mobility shouldn't stay in the interior that much. But that's a context-related issue that NBA coaches will solve early in their careers. Therefore, Ndongo should start developing a habit of not falling too far into the paint. The first play shows an example where Ndongo is closely underneath the basket, where the opponent utilizes the drag screen in transition to force the switch, seeing Ndongo is already dropped too far inside the arc.
Another area of development is watching the ball after a shot. In the second play below, Ndongo does well to timely rotate after the entry pass. Hereafter, he reads the offense and ball movement well, anticipating the elbow shooter on the weak side. He closes out quickly, where his length and size helped contest the shot. However, he should either immediately move in transition to be the recipient of a quick pass or crash the defensive glass to secure the board. Ndongo watched the play. That's something he has shown consistently throughout the season.
In the second line of defense, Ndongo does well to read the offense and rotate accordingly. His rotations are strong, which makes it more feasible for him can adapt to a ball-movement-heavy NBA game. Seeing the relocation from the shooter, Ndongo did well to follow him to the strong-side elbow to effectively contest the shot. This continued in the fourth play below, where Ndongo dropped but stayed outside the paint, helping him to use his mobility to rotate to the corner shooter. With fewer NBA teams relying on drop coverage, Ndongo shows enough flashes of adding mobility to a team’s interior presence, with his rotations being one of the early strong signs.
Pick-and-roll
Ndongo’s pick-and-roll defense is an interesting case study. He plays as if he’s forced to drop while he’s looking to attack ball handlers if he’s allowed to follow his instincts. This leads to him showing inconsistency. His foot positioning and ball-focusing lead to him bailing out ball handlers, as they know Ndongo’s focus is to attack them, thus allowing them to fully focus on hitting the roll man with the pass, knowing the second line has to respond, resulting in the Georgia Tech defense collapsing.
In the first play below, Ndongo does well to navigate through the bodies in the interior, but with dribble penetration, he had to cover the paint rather than focus on hunting the ball handler. This bailed the opponent out, who threw the alley-oop pass for the easy two. The second play shows more promise. Ndongo tags the screener and pushes himself over to challenge the ball handler before he can get into the paint. After the pass, Ndongo immediately rotates to the weak side play finisher when he had to be more passive to avoid the easy dropoff pass.
However, his habit of always attacking the ball handler leads to opponents exploiting him. In the third play below, Ndongo does well to drop but gets lured outside the paint by the ball handler waiting out his dribble penetration. Therefore, Ndongo’s feel for the game has to be the main area of focus for scouts to help him develop in the next few years.
Catch-and-drive
Ndongo’s potential to close out to the perimeter is a main sell in his profile. However, his game isn’t ready for the NBA on that end. He’s struggling to plant his last step and maintain his balance. That’s an issue where his good core strength hasn’t led to him mastering his physical tools. While he can bank on his quickness, Ndongo’s main struggle is that opposing scouting reports target his feet when closing out. Opponents know they can wait out which direction loses balance so they can attack the opposite. Therefore, working on his closeouts while maintaining balance while sliding feet is the main area for NBA scouts to focus on during team workouts.
In the first play below, Ndongo looks to pivot with his right, where he had to use his left foot to balance out. But his left foot was meant to elevate his burst to keep the opponent in front of him. The lack of speed isn’t the issue, as the lack of footwork led to him getting blown by. This continues in the second play, where Ndongo reacts to the jab step with his left foot, leading to him being attacked via the right. He’s again not in full balance to elevate his burst and keep the ball handler in front of him.
There’s also a lack of aggressiveness and toughness in his game. In the third play below, he’s closing out much better while keeping his balance. Despite the tag, Ndongo doesn’t follow up by throwing his chest in. That’s partially a result of him averaging over three fouls per game, where he wants to avoid potential foul issues. His main struggle is properly pivoting his foot to position his burst. The fourth play shows another example where he’s closing out well, but the lack of balance after one hesitation move or fake gets his feet attacked, and thus, the interior defense collapses. That’s not good for a team’s defensive rating.
Post-ups
To counter the lack of NBA-ready perimeter skills, Ndongo has to show he can offer the needed physicality in the paint. That’s due to his lack of true size to play the five full-time. In the first play below, Ndongo does well bending his knees and fully using his chest to not allow the opposing five to get more inches on the post-up. Hereafter, he could fully bank on his length and good timing of his jumps to heavily contest the finish over the right shoulder. But Ndongo is not consistent in playing with this type of toughness.
In the second play below, Ndongo does well by reverse pivoting and keeping his balance after the entry pass to the paint. However, he’s not fully engaged in the opponent’s physicality, who bends back and tries to force Ndongo to take away his chest. It’s visible that Ndongo feared to collect the foul call when jumping together with the play-finisher, who leaned forward, actively seeking contact. It’s not a lack of effort, but more Ndongo focusing too much on playing the right way rather than mastering how to play more physically without fouling. That’s an early red flag in his draft profile, as opponents will continue to hunt Ndongo’s chest by simply out-toughening him.
However, the feasible part for improvement is Ndongo’s great decision-making. He’s rarely biting on ball-fakes and jab steps as he’s looking to stay on the ground. The third play shows an example, but eventually, Ndongo bailed out his opponent by keeping his arms high to eventually pick up the foul call.
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