Syracuse Basketball: Big offers, interest pour in for soaring 6-foot-10 wing

At the end of April, Syracuse basketball coaches got into the mix by offering a scholarship to 6-foot-10 Tafara Gapare, a versatile wing/forward who has proven one of the hottest prospects around the country of late.

Gapare, who originally hails from Wellington, New Zealand, crushed it on the AAU circuit last month during NCAA live periods when college coaches could watch him compete in person.

More recently, Gapare caught the attention of various recruiting analysts and scouts for his performance at the annual GymRat Challenge in Albany, N.Y.

On the grassroots basketball circuit, Gapare plays for Baltimore-based Team Melo in Nike’s EYBL league. He also attends the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn.

Syracuse basketball faces heated competition for intriguing prospect Tafara Gapare.

According to recruiting services and his Twitter page, new offers for Gapare have arrived from Illinois, UMass, Washington State, Hawaii and Towson. Virginia is reportedly showing interest.

His other offers include from Rutgers, Maryland, Arizona State, DePaul, Pittsburgh, Missouri, Virginia Tech and Xavier.

Per an article from 247Sports national analyst Dushawn London, Gapare recently made an official visit to DePaul and an unofficial visit to Maryland. Naturally, we’d love to see Gapare eventually travel to the Hill for an official visit.

Syracuse basketball coaches have reportedly watched Gapare during open-gym availability at the South Kent School, and the ‘Cuse was also among those squads in attendance last month for Team Melo in the second of two live periods on the EYBL tour.

Analysts, scouts and Gapare’s coaches note that he is extremely athletic and versatile for a player of his length and size. While he is 6-foot-10, Gapare doesn’t appear to be a center, but rather, a small/power forward who plays on the wing.

And his head coach at the South Kent School, Raphael Chillious, recently discussed how Gapare “can really jump” in an interview with SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister.

As we’ve detailed in other columns on Gapare, he was at one time committed to George Washington but de-committed from the Colonials in November of 2021, per his bio on the 247Sports Web site.

It looks like Orange coaches are making a run at Tafara Gapare, however, one thing to monitor is which class he decides to reside in.

Gapare, at present, is part of the 2023 cycle and could return for one more year at the South Kent School. But he could also reclassify to the 2022 class, and if he does so, I’m not sure how realistic of a possibility the ‘Cuse would be at that juncture.

I say this, because Syracuse basketball has a six-member class in 2022. The Orange also recently got a commitment from Duquesne transfer Mounir Hima, although he’s a center, not a wing player.

I believe that the ‘Cuse still has one scholarship open for its upcoming 2022-23 season. At the same time, though, the team already boasts several small/power forwards on the roster ahead of 2022-23.

We’ll continue to monitor Gapare’s recruitment and keep an eye on whether he decides to stay in the 2023 class or move up to the 2022 cycle.