Syracuse Basketball: Kentucky is latest blue-blood to offer top 4-star target

Syracuse basketball appears to remain in the mix for 2022 high-priority target Kyle Filipowski, but the competition continues to intensify for the four-star big man.

By the time that the Orange offered the 6-foot-10 power forward a few months ago, he already had a slew of offers. Then more recent offers arrived for Filipowski from the likes of Duke, North Carolina and Michigan.

The Blue Devils, by the way, are getting a flood of predictions for Filipowski from national analysts and other recruiting insiders on the 247Sports Web site and Rivals.com.

But now another blue-blood squad and recruiting heavyweight has entered the fray for him. According to Filipowski’s Twitter page, he has received an offer from Kentucky out of the Southeastern Conference.

Ugh. Kentucky head coach John Calipari is tremendous on the recruiting trail, his teams often do quite well in the Big Dance, and Calipari sends a ton of Wildcats players to the NBA. This is rough news for Orange fans hoping that Filipowski will choose the ‘Cuse.

Syracuse basketball faces an uphill climb to pick up four-star Kyle Filipowski.

Filipowski is a junior at the Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Wilbraham, Mass., and he plays for the New York City-based NY Renaissance on the AAU circuit.

During the 2021 Peach Jam tournament that is going on in North Augusta, S.C., Filipowski has put forth some monster performances. Multiple national analysts have said of late that Filipowski could be headed toward five-star status and a top-20 overall ranking in his cycle, if not higher than that.

His recruitment has really blown up. Besides the collegiate powerhouses already mentioned, Filipowski in total has around 30 offers, including from other squads such as Connecticut, Iowa, Ohio State and Indiana.

Last month, Filipowski took an official visit to the Hill, and by all accounts it went well. Yet the Orange really has a battle on its hands if it wants to win the recruiting sweepstakes for this elite big man in the 2022 class.

Duke clearly has the most buzz for Filipowski. However, I think it’s hard to discount offers from Michigan, North Carolina and, most recently, Kentucky. These are some of the premier groups in the sport.

I’m sure that some Syracuse basketball fans see such recent offers and assume that the ‘Cuse is going to swing and miss on Filipowski. I’m not ready to say that, but things aren’t necessarily looking so great for the Orange’s chances with him.