Watch: Shaka Smart expands on 5-star PF Mohamed Bamba and more

On Thursday, Shaka Smart and the Texas Longhorns welcomed the addition of five-star power forward Mohamed Bamba, the nation’s No. 2 overall prospect.

Hours later, Smart held a press conference to address the media following Bamba’s commitment, among other things.

“Just really excited about welcoming Mohamed Bamba to our program,” Smart said. “It’s a great day for us.”

“We’re excited about who he is and what he represents,” Smart added.

Much of what Bamba represents and is interested in can be found in his considerably academic aspirations. In the commitment piece Bamba wrote for The Player’s Tribune, he made note of the McCombs School of Business at Texas, as academics played a significant role in Bamba’s decision as part of what he deemed ‘Big Rocks.’

“He’s literally a kid that if you put sports aside, he could have gone to school wherever he wanted to follow his academic pursuits, and that’s a big part of why he’s decided to come to Texas.”

Considering Bamba once included Harvard in his top seven and wasn’t shy about his interest, it’s not much of a surprise academics are such a factor for Bamba. His intelligence is easily apparent from listening to virtually any of his interviews and fortunately for Texas, he’ll no longer be asked about his finalists.

The nation’s top-ranked power forward is a Longhorn.

“He’s a very, very unique person who happens to also be a terrific basketball player.”