Syracuse Basketball: 4-star big man planning visits, including one to Hill

One of the top targets for Syracuse basketball in the 2023 recruiting cycle is expected to make a visit to the Orange in the future, according to a report.

Dushawn London, a terrific national analyst with 247Sports, said in a recent tweet that junior big man Papa Kante was slated to take unofficial visits to Connecticut on December 18 and to Rutgers on December 19.

Additionally, per London, the 6-foot-10 power forward/center is looking to visit teams such as the ‘Cuse, Tennessee, Kansas, Michigan State and Pittsburgh in the future.

This is really encouraging news as it pertains to the Orange’s pursuit of Kante, although obviously Syracuse basketball is facing some steep competition for the top-100 prospect.

Syracuse basketball is in regular communication with four-star big man Papa Kante.

Kante attends the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn., and he has suited up in AAU events for the Boston-based Expressions Elite Basketball.

Orange coaches offered him a scholarship this past August at the team’s annual Elite Camp. As we noted in a separate column, Kante recently detailed some of the college squads that he hears from the most, and Syracuse basketball is included on that list.

Kante is a three-star or a four-star prospect in the 2023 cycle, depending on the recruiting service. That being said, his stock is clearly rising, as he played well on the grassroots basketball circuit over the summer, and Kante has put forth some nice performances to date in the 2021-22 campaign for the South Kent School.

At the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rated Kante as the No. 99 overall player in his class, as well as the No. 11 center and the No. 3 prospect in Connecticut.

Besides Syracuse basketball, teams that have offered him a scholarship include Tennessee, Kansas, Providence, Georgetown, Miami, Pittsburgh, Georgia, Rutgers, TCU, UMass, East Carolina, Bryant and Siena.

I’m hopeful that Kante visiting Central New York down the road will only further cement the Orange’s place as a significant contender for him.

But I have to think that UConn will be a tough squad to overcome for Kante, as well as other recruiting heavyweights like Kansas and Michigan State.

We’ll continue to monitor his recruiting process, and when a date is announced for when Kante plans to travel to the Hill, we’ll of course pass that information along.