photo by: Adidas

Paul Mbiya is pictured at the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy.

The Kansas men’s basketball team’s long search for a backup big man has resulted in a commitment.

Paul Mbiya, a 6-foot-11 center from Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is joining KU, according to multiple reports on Wednesday morning.

Dushawn London of 247Sports was first to report the news, with Mbiya telling London, “I signed with Kansas because of the opportunity: to play for a top program with the most wins in the history but also to play with a fellow Congolese and make a great impact. I’m really excited about it.”

That fellow Congolese is Flory Bidunga, the 6-foot-9 forward also from Kinshasa who is expected to take a significant leap forward as a presumptive starter in his second season with the Jayhawks after briefly entering and then withdrawing from the transfer portal during the spring.

With Bidunga’s wingspan measured at 7-foot-2 prior to last season and Mbiya’s cited at a whopping 7-foot-8 at the French basketball league’s Young Star Game, KU should have plenty of shot-blocking ability at its disposal next season.

Mbiya played primarily in the French under-21 league last season for ASVEL, averaging 15.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game. In his 10 appearances for the senior team across league play and the EuroLeague, he played just 36 total minutes.

KU was initially involved in Mbiya’s recruitment back in April before he initially signed with N.C. State on May 2. However, Mbiya withdrew from the Wolfpack in recent days following its addition of North Carolina transfer Ven-Allen Lubin.

KU and Oregon were reportedly the primary contenders for Mbiya’s services the second time around, ahead of Wednesday’s reported commitment.

The pledge is the Jayhawks’ second in two days, following a long and relatively quiet period of the offseason, after KU signed reclassifying freshman shooting guard Kohl Rosario on Tuesday.

Mbiya will have the opportunity for significant minutes in the Jayhawks’ frontcourt. Illinois transfer Tre White and freshmen Bryson Tiller and Samis Calderon are solid options at power forward, but KU lacked a true center behind Bidunga prior to Wednesday. The Jayhawks had been linked to other international post prospects such as Brice Dessert (France) and Ege Demir (Turkey) ahead of the addition of Mbiya.

The question now is whether KU will try to fill its remaining two roster spots, under the new terms of the House v. NCAA settlement, now that it has 12 scholarship players. The Jayhawks actually have 16 players in total, counting walk-ons, and potentially 17 if they add two-sport athlete Jaden Nickens, but have until a July 6 deadline to designate student-athletes who would have lost out on their roster spots as a result of the new rules. Those athletes will then be exempt from counting toward KU’s 14-player limit (15 in future years).