Baylor MBB’s Tounde Yessoufou Named on Julius Erving Preseason Watch List

[Hutton, Josie]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Oct. 29, 2025

Baylor MBB’s Tounde Yessoufou Named on Julius Erving Preseason Watch List
Yessoufou recognized with top 20 small forwards in the country
For more information contact: Josie Hutton; 254-709-7720, josie_hutton at baylor.edu<mailto:josie_hutton at baylor.edu>



SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Baylor men’s basketball’s Tounde Yessoufou was featured on the 2025-26 Naismith Starting 5 – Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List, as announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Wednesday.



The Julius Erving Award recognized the best small forward in men’s college basketball every year. The Contonou, Benin, native is listed among the top 20 in the country.



Rated as a five-star prospect by ESPN out of St. Joseph High School in California, Yessoufou joined the Bears as the No. 2 player in the State of California and the fifth-best small forward in the 2025 class.



The winner of the 2025 McDonald’s All-American dunk contest helped the Knights reach the California Interscholastic Foundation playoffs his senior season with a 31-4 record. In his previous three seasons, he compiled the Knights an 86-15 record, averaging at least 26 points per game in all three seasons.



In Baylor’s last two exhibition matchups, Yessoufou has put up double-figures, averaging 16.5 points.



The Julius Erving Watch List will narrow down to 10 players in late January, with the final five being announced in March. The award winner and presentation details will be revealed at the Final Four in Indianapolis.



JULIUS ERVING SMALL FORWARD OF THE YEAR PRESEASON WATCH LIST

Karter Knox, Arkansas

Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor

AJ Dybantsa, BYU

Dame Sarr, Duke

Derrion Reid, Oklahoma

Isiah Harwell, Houston

Andrej Stojaković, Illinois

Tucker DeVries, Indiana

Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State

Coen Carr, Michigan State

Darrion Williams, NC State

Devin Royal, Ohio State

Fletcher Loyer, Purdue

Miles Byrd, SDSU

Nate Ament, Tennessee

Dailyn Swain, Texas

LeJuan Watts, Texas Tech

Eric Dailey Jr., UCLA

Braylon Mullins, UConn

Chad Baker-Mazara, USC



 - BaylorBears<http://www.baylorbears/>.com -




Josie Hutton | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (MBB, FB, MTEN)

Department of Athletics | Baylor University

C: (254) 709-7720



[signature_2230589939]<http://www.baylorbears.com/>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20251029/5bf68a61/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 12352 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20251029/5bf68a61/attachment-0001.png>