Competition for 2022 four-star guard Roddy Gayle Jr. has already proven intense for Syracuse basketball, and now Kansas is in the mix.
Syracuse basketball high-priority target Roddy Gayle Jr., a 2022 four-star guard and the No. 1 prospect in the state of New York within this recruiting cycle, has received an offer from Big 12 Conference heavyweight Kansas, according to his Twitter page.
The 6-foot-5 Gayle, a junior at Lewiston-Porter High School in Youngstown, N.Y., which is about a three-hour drive from the ‘Cuse campus, is expected to narrow down his list of contenders in the near future, per a report from Dushawn London, a national analyst for 247Sports.
The Orange should remain in the running as Gayle’s recruitment moves forward. London wrote in his piece that, “As it stands, he has seen the most attention from the likes of Syracuse, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Alabama, UConn, Georgetown, and Kansas.”
Up until recently, the Jayhawks had expressed interest in Gayle but had yet to offer him a scholarship. While I think that the Orange still has at least a decent shot of ultimately landing Gayle, Kansas entering his recruiting bout is rough stuff for Syracuse basketball fans.
Very excited to receive an offer from Kansas university. @KUHoops #RockChalk pic.twitter.com/mUlwOtJtEA
— RG2 (@roddy_gayle) September 17, 2020
The Jayhawks are a blue-blood program. They would have entered the 2020 NCAA Tournament as a likely No. 1 seed and the favorite to cut down the nets, before the event got halted due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Any time that Kansas and its head coach, Bill Self, are involved, watch out.
Powerhouse team Kansas has offered Syracuse basketball 2022 target Roddy Gayle Jr.
"Then again, in London’s story, Gayle had a ton of positive things to say about the ‘Cuse. “I love coach McNamara,” Gayle said. “He’s the kind of coach that I love because he has so much determination and grit. He’s going to be on you all the time and he’s going to push you to be better. Coach Boeheim keeps in contact and is always honest. All their assistants keep in contact with me and make sure I’m good. I have a good relationship with coach Autry and his son as well. I also like that Johnny Flynn and Paul Harris are from where I’m from and that they went to Syracuse. Personally it would be a dream come true to follow in their footsteps, do what they did, and get to the next level. It was pretty amazing to watch growing up.”"
Like I said earlier, it would surprise me if Syracuse basketball isn’t in the running once Gayle trims his list. He does have an abundance of impressive other offers, though, from the likes of Alabama, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Georgia, Louisville, LSU, Marquette, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rutgers, Seton Hall, TCU, Wake Forest, Xavier, St. John’s, Tennessee, Buffalo, Canisius and Niagara.
Orange coaches first offered Gayle a scholarship last November and have remained focused on him ever since within the 2022 class, a cycle where five-star point guard Dior Johnson is the sole ‘Cuse commit at this juncture.
The 247Sports recruiting service places Gayle at No. 28 overall in the 2022 class, No. 5 at shooting guard and, as previously mentioned, No. 1 in the Empire State.