With official visits done, Thamba zeroing in on decision

About a month ago, 2018 Mountain Mission (Va.) School center Florent Thamba announced he had narrowed down his list of schools to a final four.

Nebraska, which offered him back in October, made the cut, along with Virginia Tech, Illinois, and Baylor.

The 6-foot-10, 230-pound native of Congo, Africa, just wrapped up his fourth and final official visit to those schools when he went to Baylor earlier this week, and now his attention shifts to making a final decision on his future college.

"Pretty much right now I plan to sit down with my family and go over all of the schools and talk about the pros and the cons of each one on my list," Thamba told HuskerOnline.com. "By January 15th I will make a verbal commitment to whatever school I'm going to."

Thamba, who grew up in South Africa before moving to the U.S. in 2015, continues to keep things pretty close to the vest when discussing where things stand in his recruitment.

However, the three-star prospect said he was able to get a much better read on his final four schools after getting the chance to see each campus in person over the past month.

Thamba took his official visit to Lincoln on Dec. 4-6, and NU assistant Kenya Hunter is his lead recruiter.

"As of right now I don't have an immediate favorite, but every single school I really liked," Thamba said. "Like I said, pretty much right now it comes down to which school is going to be the perfect fit for me. It's going to be a hard decision."

Thamba added that his time in Lincoln was definitely an experience that continues to stand out.

"The Lincoln visit was good," Thamba said. "I had a really good conversation with Coach (Tim) Miles, so that was a good visit."

Given the fact that his entire family is still back in Africa, Thamba said location was not a factor whatsoever in his final decision. What might be the top priority is which school he feels can continue to develop his game and get him ready for the next level.

Thamba has only been playing organized basketball since 2015, when he attended the Basketball Without Borders camp in South Africa as a 13-year-old and immediately emerged as one of the best talents at the event.

"Development is really key for me," Thamba said. "I wouldn't have made it this far if it wasn't for the development from the right people. So I'm really big on development, and I want a school where it's going to develop me not only on the court but also academically."