Baye Fall (basketball)

Fall grew up in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, mainly playing association football as a goalkeeper.[4][5] He was always tall for his age, with his father standing at 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) and his mother at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m).[5] His older brother and uncle encouraged him to focus full-time on basketball at the age of 13, when they noticed he had potential on the court.[5] When he was 15, Fall moved to the United States to join his cousin, Mamadou Sow, and their uncle in Denver,[5][6] enrolling at Lincoln Academy Charter School to finish the eighth grade.[7] The main reason for the move was an opportunity for a better education, with Fall hoping to be an architect.[4][8] Unlike Sow, he already knew some English, though they both used social media and rap music to learn casual English and slang.[4][5]

In March 2019, Fall made a strong first impression on scouts with a standout performance at the Pangos Junior All-American Camp, a showcase for the top middle school talent in the country.[5][7][9] Basketball writer Frank Burlison, a member of the USBWA Hall of Fame, compared his dominance to that of Deandre Ayton's at the same event six years prior.[7]

Fall followed his cousin and enrolled at Lutheran High School in Parker, Colorado.[5] He averaged 19.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 67 percent from the field as a freshman, leading his school to an appearance in the class 3A state quarterfinals.[5][10] He earned second-team class 3A all-state and second-team MaxPreps Freshman All-American honors.[10][11]

As a sophomore, Fall averaged 22.1 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.2 blocked shots per game, guiding Lutheran to a 16–1 record and a class 3A state title.[12] He recorded 10 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks in the championship game against St. Mary's.[13] At the end of they year he was named class 3A state player of the year,[14] MaxPreps Colorado Player of the Year,[12] and a first-team MaxPreps Sophomore All-American.[15] That summer he shared co-MVP honors with JJ Taylor at the 2021 Pangos All-American Camp Top30 game in Las Vegas.[16]

Ahead of his junior season, Fall announced he was transferring to the newly-formed Denver Prep Academy, a member of the Grind Session national prep basketball league.[8] However, after appearing in just ten games, he was dismissed from the team in February 2022 for a violation of team rules.[17] He averaged 14.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game at the time of his dismissal.[17] That summer, Fall averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks a game for the Colorado Hawks in the Adidas 3SSB circuit.[18] He was named co-MVP of the Pangos All-American Camp Top 30 All-Star Game in June,[19] followed by a performance as the top scorer and rebounder at the NBAPA Top 100 Camp in July.[20]

For his senior year, Fall enrolled at Accelerated Prep, another Denver-based private school competing in the Grind Session league as a new member.[21] On January 24, 2023, Fall was selected as a McDonald's All-American.[22]

Recruiting

Baye received his first offer from Minnesota when he was still in the eighth grade.[5] By the end of his freshman season at Lutheran he also held offers from Georgia, Georgetown and Kansas.[23]

In August 2022, Fall announced that he had trimmed his list of schools to seven: Arkansas, Auburn, Colorado, Kansas State, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Texas.[24] He had received more than 30 offers at this point.[18]

Fall committed to Arkansas on November 15, 2022.[25]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Baye Fall C	Denver, Colorado	Accelerated Prep (CO)	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	—
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 92
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 11  247Sports: 16  ESPN: 20
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 27, 2022.