Meet Tounde Yessoufou, the Baylor Bears signee who pulls off dunks like Anthony Edwards

Five-star small forward Tounde Yessoufou has become one of the fastest-rising stars in the U.S. and is often compared with Anthony Edwards. While many Americans have not even heard of the West African country of Benin, many learned of this elite hooper from that country during last Saturday's Nike Hoop Summit.

Yessoufou led Team World's valiant effort with 24 points, three assists and two steals. Even though Team USA won the game, 124–114, he helped carry the international showcase team to a late fourth-quarter comeback and forced the game to overtime.

The Benin native moved to the U.S. before his freshman year of high school and settled in Santa Maria, California. Yessoufou studied at St. Joseph High School and led the CIF Central Section Open Division title game before being named the Santa Maria Times All-Area MVP.

Yessoufou got going as a sophomore, leading St. Joseph to the CIF Central Section Division I title before leading the Knights to the Open Division state championships, However, he couldn't lead the team to the state title, eventually losing to Harvard Westlake.

Along the way, the West African star grabbed the attention of scouts and eventually decided to go to Baylor. ESPN ranked him as the No. 15 overall and a five-star prospect.

Yessoufou was named a McDonald's All-American. He played for the winning West team, alongside AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. He also built a reputation for his insane dunks, even beating Dybantsa for the McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk title on Mar. 31.

Tounde Yessoufou talks about why he chose Baylor

In December, the Benin native chose Baylor over USC and Arizona State. Soon after his decision, Yessoufou explained why he chose the Baptist University in Waco, Texas.

"All respect to the other schools as well, but when I visited Baylor, it felt like family," he said to 247Sports. "I felt the energy, felt the brotherhood."

"Their coach (Scott Drew) has been there (22 years)," he said. "That's rare."

He also thanked his mom for being understanding:

"My mom always wanted me to be just on the education side, to become a doctor or a lawyer ... Thank God, she just understood it," he said. "I'm an only child, and she just wanted me to do what I wanted to do, to make it work."

His mom has been his "rock" as he studied abroad in the U.S. with his mom still living in Benin with his stepfather and six older stepbrothers.