Virginia Basketball: A look at potential recruit Bobi Klintman
Checking out some film on the fast-rising Class of 2022 recruit
While the Virginia basketball class of 2022 is already stacked with three ESPN Top 100 recruits (Isaac Traudt at 45, Isaac McKneely at 72, and Leon Bond at 74), the team could be making a late push for yet another quality addition to the star-studded group.
Swedish forward Bobi Klintman recently narrowed down his list of teams to six schools, and Virginia was one of them. Here’s what he said in an interview with 247sports about why the team made the cut for his selection of finalists:
“I love Tony Bennett and he keeps in contact with me and is always checking up on me. I love the way they would play me. They would want to play me like DeAndre Hunter from what they’ve said and he’s now an NBA player so I would love that.”
Klintman popped onto the class of 2022 scene fairly recently — while playing overseas in Sweden, scouts couldn’t get much tape on him or check out his game in person. As a result, he’s remained under the radar, with most recruiting services ranking him as a two- or three-star recruit.
However, Klintman decided to transfer to Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas (hey, that’s my home state!) to showcase his game for scouts and increase his options for college recruitment. Apparently, he’s done quite a good job showcasing his game so far, because reviews from a recent private workout were glowing. Here’s what that same 247sports article had to say about his game:
Last week, 247Sports had a chance to watch the skilled and nearly 6-foot-9 forward work out at Bel Aire (Kans.) Sunrise Christian and he made quite an impression with his combination of skill, size and athleticism.
That sounds pretty good, but is also a bit generic. I dug up the most recent footage I could find — though Klintman did play a few games with Borâs Basket in the Swedish Basketball League, the country’s premier league, the only 2020 tape that was publicly available came from his time in the second-division Superettan — and took a look to see what the Swede could offer if he ends up committing to Virginia.
Bobi Klintman Tape Breakdown
I say this with a heavy grain of salt, because the second-division Swedish pro league is not incredibly stiff competition, but for a high school junior Klintman looks incredibly good in his film. From an outsider’s perspective, I can see him quickly climbing the recruiting rankings now that he’ll see increased exposure to the country’s top scouts.
At 6’9, he has a certain level of poise and control with the ball that’s uncanny. There were a few impressive sizzle-reel passes I saw him make, but one play in particular stood out, even though the pass itself isn’t all that flashy:
What seems to bode well is just how fluid Klintman looks handling the basketball. He brings the ball up the floor off a rebound, calmly uses a hesitation move to beat his defender, and throws a live-dribble pass across his body to the roll man. It all looks easy, but there are very few 6’9 players at the college level with that sort of fluidity and finesse, let alone high school juniors.
Klintman also showcased some shooting ability during his short stint in the Superettan. When left open, he takes time to set his feet and sometimes brings the ball down below his waist to load up his jumper, which is a slight mechanical inaccuracy that future shooting coaches will surely work to iron out.
However, when contested or shooting off the dribble, Klintman’s form looks a lot nicer — he elevates and squares to the basket well, and gets some good lift on his shot. There’s also the tantalizing idea that Klintman learns how to shoot while on the move: though the form doesn’t look pretty here (there’s a little bit of Lonzo Ball action bringing the ball across his body, which results in his elbow flaring out), the quick release and confidence is a positive sign for his future outlook.
The other part of Klintman’s game that really flashes on tape is his athleticism. His height falls somewhere between 6’8 and 6’9, and though I can’t find it listed publicly, his wingspan is clearly above average for that height.
As a jumper, Bobi is capable of finishing off either one or two feet. While he frequently opts to either finish around defenders off one foot or jump through them off two feet, there are also occasional glimpses of some impressively violent posterizing dunks.
In the tape, this one- and two-footed jumping athleticism flashes most frequently when Klintman is attacking closeouts. These clips show that defenders respect him as a shooter (a good sign) and that, when they overcommit to the shot, Klintman won’t be afraid to take advantage (an even better sign).
Klintman’s athleticism — most notably his length — also sticks out on the defensive end, where he has a propensity to make impact plays. As a shot blocker, he’s reminiscient of Mamadi Diakite in the way he meets opponents at their highest point and simply erases their shot attempts:
He’s also capable of capitalizing on errant passes or pickpocketing opponents with his superior wingspan:
Overall, Klintman is an impressive prospect — far more talented than his current rankings would suggest. The next set of rankings to come out should be 247sports’s, which release on September 15th, and will presumably include Bobi after his private workout at Sunrise Christian that they attended.
My best guess is that he’ll, at minimum, rank as a four-star — probably one included in the top 100. That seems to be the buzz around him at the moment, at least. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he continues to climb those rankings; his blend of size, length, and feel for the game is uncanny.
I certainly wouldn’t call Virginia the favorite in Klintman’s recruitment process, though the fan crystal ball predictions on Rivals disagree with me there. From my outsider perspective, I think Bobi will most likely want a school where he’s guaranteed a significant role, and with Leon Bond already in the 2022 class and Igor Milicic slotted into the 2022-23 and probably 2023-24 rotation, it’s hard to see Bobi immediately earning big minutes.
However, there’s always a chance, and adding Klintman to the 2022 class would give Virginia basketball an absolute embarrassment of riches.