Syracuse Basketball one step closer to landing Frank Anselem

Reports say that Syracuse Basketball recruit Frank Anselem has removed Kentucky from his final six. The Orange are also gaining traction.

4-star center, Frank Anselem, has recently cut Kentucky from his final six schools, meaning that Syracuse Basketball is left to compete with Arkansas, Seton Hall, and Western Kentucky for the prized recruit.

And according to Adam Zagoria, a college basketball reporter for the New York Times among others, says that the Orange seem to be right on the cusp of potentially landing the big man:

"Anselem had Zoom calls this week with Seton Hall and Syracuse, with one source saying those two schools are “gaining the most momentum.”He also talks often with San Diego State."

Syracuse is in need of a big man for the future, with both Bourama Sidibe and Marek Dolezaj graduating after the 2020-21 season. Anselem has been said to have NBA Draft potential, but would still most likely be a guy who plays two or three years in college, if not all four.

247sports lists the class of 2020 center as a 4-star recruit, as the number 22 center overall. Syracuse basketball hasn’t landed a center that highly ranked since the 2016 recruiting cycle, when Taurean Thompson committed to the Orange.

While Thompson only stayed one year with Syracuse, he did average 9.2 points per game, 3.8 rebounds, and was key in the Orange’s upset bid over Duke. However, he decided to transfer to Seton Hall following that season, and is actually once again in the transfer portal.

However, the fact that Anselem would be the highest incoming center for the Syracuse basketball program since Thompson, sheds a lot of light on his talent and the state of the Orange. Anselem cutting Kentucky from his list, but keeping Syracuse on it, shows that the Orange can recruit against the ‘blue blood’ schools.

Interestingly enough, as mentioned by Zagoria previously, it looks like the Orange and Seton Hall are the top two teams in Anselem’s mind, with San Diego State also there.

The Pirates have done tremendous with big men in recent years, with Angel Delgado winning the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award for national center of the year in 2018, and more recently, former JUCO center Romaro Gill winning Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.

For San Diego State, the Aztecs were one of the best teams in all of college basketball a season ago, so there is really no surprise that they are in the thick of things for a talented recruit.

As for Syracuse, the Orange can promise a Hall of Fame coach, NBA Draft potential, and a good potential for playing time. After this season, the ‘Cuse only have Jesse Edwards and John Bol Ajak returning at the center position. Edwards played very sparingly last season, averaging 2.4 points per game, while Ajak decided to redshirt.

There is no timetable for Anselem to ultimately chose where he will commit to yet, but it should happen within the next few weeks, as teams prefer to have players on campus in the summer time for workouts.

However, with the Covid-19 pandemic still an obvious issue, it allows Anselem to really go through his process carefully.

Syracuse basketball is in need for a center to cap off their 2020 class and Frank Anselem is right up their alley.