A change of scenery is sometimes all it takes to take a mid level prospect to the next level. This year, 6’8” Junior Ibrahim Doumbia is showing to be a Top 100 prospect.
Last year, Ibrahim Doumbia played at Arlington Country Day School. There he was a lengthy, high flying post player. He finished monster dunks from the short corner and had some breath taking blocked shots from the weak side.
This year, however Doumbia transferred south to Miami Country Day. There he is expanding his game out to the wing, where his skill set is quickly adapting. At this point, you can see he is still learning the position. When to go, when to pull out, when to give it up. However, his handle is tightening and his jump shot looks great.
Doumbia has been in the United States for only 18 months. He is from Mali, West Africa and is part of the group that brought over Kassoum Yakwe (St John’s) and Cheick Diallo (Kansas). In fact, Doumbia and Diallo are actually cousins.
At this point, many people are still finding out about Doumbia. That is fine, he is still learning how to play (along with learning a new culture). However, he does claim early offers from the likes of Baylor, Central Florida, and South Carolina. Expect many more to come.
As we mentioned above, conservatively Doumbia is top 100 prospect. As the game starts to slow down, that conservative ranking could rise considerably.