Syracuse Basketball: Kamari Lands prep team a national-title contender

Syracuse basketball recently landed a verbal commitment from 2022 four-star wing Kamari Lands, a huge first pick-up for the Orange to kick off this class.

The 6-foot-8 Lands, a versatile scorer and defender who can suit up at small forward, shooting guard and point guard, is a junior at Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif.

Prolific Prep is one of the top prep-school squads around the country, and Lands played a key role in how this group performed in the recently concluded stanza.

During the 2020-21 term, Prolific Prep finished with an impressive 31-4 record and was ranked No. 10 nationally in the final top-25 rankings from MaxPreps.

According to MaxPreps, Prolific Prep has earned top-10 overall ratings across the country in two-consecutive seasons, and it appears that the upcoming campaign could also prove a stellar one for Lands and his teammates.

Syracuse basketball commit Kamari Lands is primed for a special senior year.

MaxPreps recently unveiled its early pre-season top-25 rankings for the 2021-22 term, and Prolific Prep checks in at No. 5 nationally. In an article on these ratings, MaxPreps national basketball editor Jordan Divens notes that Prolific Prep is “expected to return the majority of their rotation,” which of course includes Lands.

If you’d like to dig a little deeper into Lands and Prolific Prep, check out his bio on the MaxPreps Web site. This includes team results for Prolific Prep in the most recent season.

When Lands announced his verbal commitment to the ‘Cuse, I was a little surprised, since there didn’t appear to be as much buzz between him and Syracuse basketball when compared to other prospects in this cycle.

That’s the recruiting world for you. Nothing is for certain until a high-school player reveals his collegiate destination. Lands is universally deemed a four-star prospect in the 2022 class, and most recruiting services rate him as a top-40 overall player.

Not that it matters really much at all, but ESPN did recently update its national rankings for the 2022 cycle, and Lands fell from five stars to four stars. He also dropped from No. 19 nationally to No. 25.

Regardless, Lands is one of the premier players in the 2022 class, and it would prove so cool if he and his Prolific Prep colleagues made a run at the high-school national championship during the upcoming stanza.