4-star center Kamsi Awaka, brother of former Wildcat Tobe, commits to Florida over Arizona

Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats lost out on a second major recruiting target with local ties in consecutive days.

Four-star center Kamsi Awaka committed to Florida over Arizona on Wednesday, as the Wildcats remain without a commitment in the cycle.

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound center from Cheshire, Connecticut is ranked as the No. 40 overall prospect and the No. 6 center in the nation for the 2027 class, according to the 247 Sports’ composite rankings. He currently attends Blair Academy in New Jersey.

Awaka chose the Gators after making an official visit to Tucson the last weekend of September for Arizona’s annual Red-Blue scrimmage alongside top recruit targets Darius Wabbington and Adan Diggs.

Wabbington picked Indiana over Arizona and Illinois on Tuesday.

Awaka’s recruitment picked up significant momentum throughout September, taking visits to UConn (Sept. 11), Florida (Sept. 14), Michigan State (Sept. 20) and Michigan (Sept. 22) before visiting Arizona and choosing Florida.

The lineage is plenty familiar to Arizona fans. Kamsi is the younger brother of former Wildcat forward Tobe Awaka, who earned Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year honors and an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection during his time in Tucson before signing with the Chicago Bulls as an undrafted free agent.

Much like his older brother, Kamsi brings a relentless motor on the glass and relies on pure physicality to control the paint. While not regarded as a score-first option, his 7-foot-4 wingspan mixed with his size allows him to dominate around the rim and alter shots on the defensive end.

Awaka boosted his stock over the summer competing for New Heights on the Adidas 3SSB circuit, where he averaged 13.8 points on 57% shooting from the floor, 6.8 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game.

His strong play also earned him an invitation to the USA Men’s Junior National Team minicamp scheduled for Oct. 9-11 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

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