New Syracuse basketball big-man target big new offers, blue-blood in mix

After Syracuse basketball offered 2023 big man Papa Kante not too long ago, I’m sure that some Orange fans out there didn’t get too excited, because they likely chimed in that Kante isn’t ranked by all of the primary recruiting services.

Well, as I always like to say, recruiting ratings are good for context, but they don’t always tell the entire story about a high-school prospect.

Case in point, the 6-foot-10 Kante has seen his list of scholarship offers expand of late, with some heavyweight programs getting into the recruiting fray for the power forward/center.

According to recruiting services and various tweets from recruiting insiders, including one from ZAGSBLOG.com national analyst Jacob Polacheck, some of the more recent offers to head Kante’s way are from Kansas and Providence.

The Jayhawks, a member of the Big 12 Conference, are a blue-blood program and recruiting heavyweight. If they like what they see in Kante’s skill-set, that’s saying something, in my opinion. Plus, Providence is a solid Big East Conference team.

Competition is on the rise for 2023 big man Papa Kante, a Syracuse basketball prospect.

Kante is set for his junior year at the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn., and he runs on the grassroots basketball circuit with the Boston-based Expressions Elite Basketball.

Over the summer, Kante performed quite well at AAU events, including Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League, which culminated with the 2021 Peach Jam tournament in North Augusta, S.C., according to some national analysts.

As such, Kante recently entered the 2023 player ratings when Rivals.com updated its list. This recruiting service has him as three stars and No. 123 overall within the 2023 class.

It’s true that not every recruiting Web site presently has Kante within their 2023 national rankings, but I expect that to change. From what I’ve read about him, Kante seems to be a legit four-star, top-100 prospect.

Syracuse basketball coaches had reportedly shown interest in him of late, and they offered him a scholarship when Kante attended the Orange’s annual Elite Camp not too long ago.

According to recruiting services, media reports and Kante’s own Twitter account, he has other offers from teams such as Pittsburgh, Georgia, Rutgers, TCU, UMass, East Carolina, Bryant and Siena.

Now that Kansas and Providence are in the picture, this is a pretty good indication that more high-major offers will roll in for Kante in the near future. I believe he would fit in well within the ‘Cuse system, but competition for his services should keep on intensifying.