Syracuse Basketball: Orange taking a look at ‘physical’ 2022 big man

For numerous years, many Syracuse basketball fans have lamented about the lack of physical big men on the Orange roster since Rakeem Christmas was an All-American in the 2014-15 campaign.

Perhaps some of that criticism is fair, although at the same time ‘Cuse coaches are pursuing several talented bigs in the 2022 class, including four-star Donovan Clingan, four-star Kyle Filipowski and Christ Essandoko.

One to keep an eye on is Duke Brennan, a junior at Hillcrest Prep in Gilbert, Ariz., who runs with the Oakland, Calif.-based Oakland Soldiers on the AAU circuit.

Brennan is an unranked 6-10 center in the 2022 cycle, but from what I’ve read about him, he’s a talented and emerging prospect in this class.

Conrad Chow, an analyst at Pro Insight, recently tweeted out that Brennan is hearing from Syracuse basketball, among many other high-major teams.

According to a review of the primary recruiting services, Brennan holds close to 20 scholarship offers, from squads such as Seton Hall, Wake Forest, Arizona State, California, Mississippi State, Georgia, UMass and Nevada.

My sense is that his offer list will significantly grow as he continues to shine for his prep school and in AAU competitions. To that end, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Brennan enters the national rankings for the 2022 cycle at some point.

Syracuse basketball has inquired about 2022 center Duke Brennan.

Brennan recently participated in the 2021 Pangos All-American Camp, held in Las Vegas, and his invitation to this prestigious event helps to illustrate his admirable skill-set.

Multiple tweets that I’ve perused suggest that Brennan performed well at the 2021 Pangos All-American Camp, and that included having to guard 2022 five-star big man Jalen Duren for a period of time. Duren, by the way, is deemed the No. 1 center nationwide in his class.

"Eric Bossi, the national basketball director for 247Sports, recently had this to say about Brennan’s play at the Las Vegas event. “An unranked three-star prospect, Duke Brennan recently told 247Sports that he likes to play physical. He backed that up on Sunday night and did a more than respectable job of handling himself the times he was matched up with Jalen Duren. He’s strong, likes to compete in the paint and plays with a tremendous motor.”"

So, for me, throw the rankings stuff out the window. If Brennan could hold his own against Duren, that’s a tell-tale sign that this dude can ball. We’ll continue to monitor any and all involvement that Orange coaches have with Brennan.