Kokomo Product Flory Bidunga to Test NBA Draft Waters and Enter Transfer Portal, Per Reports

Flory Bidunga claimed the 2024 Indiana Mr. Basketball award by 76 votes at Butler University's Clowes Memorial Hall, outdistancing Brownstown Central's Jack Benter 198-122. Two years later, the Kokomo product is forcing every NBA front office and high-major program in the country to pay attention at once: he declared for the 2026 NBA Draft while simultaneously entering the NCAA transfer portal, a simultaneous move that immediately made him the top-rated available player among more than 800 players who had already signaled portal intent, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

The two-pronged approach is now standard operating procedure for elite college prospects navigating the offseason. By declaring without formally forfeiting eligibility, Bidunga keeps all three doors open: an NBA contract, a return to Kansas, or a transfer to a new program. The hard deadline is May 27, 2026, when players must withdraw from the draft to preserve college eligibility. The transfer portal itself opened the day after the NCAA men's title game.

What separates Bidunga from the typical portal entrant is a sophomore résumé that reads like a defensive highlight reel. Across 35 games (34 starts) in 2025-26, he averaged 13.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, shot 64.0 percent from the field to lead the Big 12 in field-goal percentage, and recorded 91 total blocks, which ranked fourth nationally. His 2.6 blocks per game also led the conference. Those numbers produced Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors, first-team All-Big 12 recognition, and a spot on the All-Big 12 Defensive Team. His best single performance of the season was a 25-point effort against Princeton in November. Kansas head coach Bill Self, who confirmed he will return for his 24th season in Lawrence shortly before this news surfaced, described Bidunga's evolution plainly: "I'm certainly fired up that Flory received what I thought should be his. Because to me, he's the most versatile and best defender in our league." Self identified the hinge point of that growth: "The biggest steps I would say [Flory has made are] staying disciplined and understanding to play to his length rather than play to gamble."

NBA teams will evaluate Bidunga against two specific questions raised by Bleacher Report: a measurement discrepancy, as Kansas lists him at 6'10" while the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit clocked him at 6'7", and a limited offensive toolkit outside the paint. His 7'2" wingspan and explosive vertical are universally considered strengths. Draft analysts project him as a mid-first to early second-round pick, though Yahoo Sports' NBA Draft specialist Kevin O'Connor did not include him in his most recent first-round board.

This is Bidunga's second straight offseason in this position. He entered the portal on March 29, 2025, with a "do not contact" designation after his freshman year, drew recruitment from Indiana and Auburn, then withdrew and returned to Kansas after agreeing to a larger NIL deal. Sports Illustrated has flagged that a second consecutive withdrawal and return to Lawrence is considerably less likely given the pattern.

His path to this moment is the kind of story that resonates beyond Lawrence. Born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bidunga arrived in the United States in 2021 at age 15, enrolling at Kokomo High School through the school's International Baccalaureate program on his parents' recommendation. He became the first Indiana high school student holding a J-1 exchange visitor visa to win Mr. Basketball, and only the third Kokomo player to win the award in the program's history, joining Tom Schwartz (1945) and Jimmy Rayl (1959). That gap, 65 years between Rayl and Bidunga, illustrates just how rare the honor has been for Kokomo.

Three seasons with the Wildkats produced staggering numbers: 1,609 points, 1,132 rebounds, and 402 blocks. His senior year alone, he shot 81.4 percent from the field (236-of-290) and led Kokomo to a 25-4 record. He and teammate Karson Rogers were named Indiana All-Stars, becoming the program's 29th and 30th in school history. A McDonald's All-American and consensus 5-star, top-20 national recruit, Bidunga signed with Kansas after a prep career that had produced two Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year awards and three IBCA Supreme 15 selections.

The Indiana prep-to-NBA pipeline Bidunga is traveling has rarely been this crowded in a single draft cycle. Braden Smith of Westfield (2022 Mr. Basketball, Purdue) and Braylon Mullins of Greenfield-Central (2025 Mr. Basketball, UConn) are both projected in several early 2026 mock drafts, giving the state a realistic shot at three Mr. Basketball winners landing in the same NBA draft class. For high school programs across Indiana, particularly Kokomo's, every step Bidunga takes toward an NBA roster amplifies recruiting narratives and reinforces the credibility of the Indiana-to-college-to-pro pathway that has defined the state's basketball identity for decades. The clock on his decision runs until May 27.