Syracuse Basketball: 4-star big-man recruit really high on Kentucky, others

A recently published media report doesn’t seem to indicate that Syracuse basketball is a significant contender for fast-rising 2023 center Ugonna Kingsley, whose national rankings and offer list have blown up lately.

The Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to the four-star, 7-foot Kingsley in February, and a report that came out not too long ago said that Syracuse basketball assistant coach Gerry McNamara was recruiting Kingsley at a consistent pace.

That could still be the case, however, an article from On3 national analyst Jamie Shaw said that Kingsley is eyeing some visits in the near future, and the schools he mentioned are Kentucky, Kansas, and UConn, as well as possibly LSU.

Kingsley, who is from Nigeria, is a rising senior at the Putnam Science Academy in Putnam, Conn. He’s also one of the hottest prospects out there in the 2023 class.

Syracuse basketball appears to be a long shot for four-star center Ugonna Kingsley.

During NCAA live periods on the AAU circuit in April, as well as at more recent grassroots-basketball events, Kingsley has caught the attention of many national analysts and scouts for his performances.

He is a member of the Team New England Basketball Club, and Kingsley runs with the NY Jayhawks in the Adidas-sponsored league.

Kingsley, whom some experts say may be the best all-around rim protector nationwide in the 2023 cycle, holds offers from squads such as UConn, Kansas, Maryland, Florida, Mike Hopkins-led Washington, LSU, Ohio State, Kansas State, Ole Miss, Georgia, Providence, Georgetown, Texas Tech, Washington State, Clemson, Seton Hall, California and Iowa.

Kentucky, Oregon, Baylor and Duke, among others, have reportedly displayed interest in Kingsley as well. I can’t tell if Kentucky has officially offered him, but it does appear those Wildcats are heavily in the mix for him.

Regarding Kentucky, a blue-blood group and a recruiting giant in college basketball, Kingsley said to Shaw, “I have been wanting to go to Kentucky all my life, even before coming to the states.”

Understandably, Kingsley also had a lot of positive things to say about Kansas and Connecticut, which makes sense, since he’s looking at visiting both of those teams, too.

As several of the primary recruiting services have updated their 2023 national ratings of late, Kingsley has soared into the top-25 overall according to 247Sports, On3 and the industry-generated On3 Consensus.

He’s also inside the top-40 nationally via the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and ESPN. Other than Rivals.com, every other main recruiting Web site has Kingsley as a top-five center in the 2023 class.