Syracuse Basketball: Fast-rising 4-star big de-commits from Big East team

Former Syracuse basketball recruiting target Tafara Gapare, who has proven one of the hottest high-school prospects nationwide this spring and summer, is reopening his recruitment back up after making a commitment announcement last month, according to a media report.

On3 national analyst Joe Tipton reported that the 6-foot-10 wing/power forward, who is originally from Wellington, New Zealand, has de-committed from DePaul.

In early June, the four-star Gapare released a top seven of Maryland, Illinois, DePaul, Virginia Tech and Connecticut, as well as two professional options, Overtime Elite and the National Basketball League (“NBL”), which is based in Australia. He would then go on to reveal a commitment to DePaul a few days after disclosing his seven finalists.

The Orange coaching staff had offered a scholarship to Gapare at the end of April. We’ll certainly monitor whether the ‘Cuse looks to pursue him once again now that Gapare is reopening his recruitment.

Syracuse basketball was one of numerous suitors for four-star Tafara Gapare.

At present, Gapare is a member of the 2023 class, although he has said in interviews that he could reclassify to 2022.

I believe that the Orange has one scholarship available for the upcoming 2022-23 stanza, although the team’s existing roster does possess a bunch of wings and forwards.

Gapare attends the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn., and in grassroots basketball, he runs with the Baltimore-based Team Melo in Nike’s EYBL league.

The South Kent School, by the way, is the same prep-school team that Elmarko Jackson will compete for in the upcoming 2022-23 term. Jackson is a four-star point guard and priority recruiting target for the ‘Cuse in the 2023 cycle.

Getting back to Gapare, he at one time had also committed to George Washington, so this makes two de-commitments for him if you include DePaul.

His offer sheet has included teams such as Syracuse basketball, Connecticut, Illinois, UMass, Washington State, Hawaii, Towson, Rutgers, Maryland, Arizona State, DePaul, Pittsburgh, Missouri, Virginia Tech and Xavier.

In recent months, Gapare has earned a lot of praise from national analysts and scouts for his play on the AAU circuit. Not too long ago, when 247Sports updated its 2023 national ratings, Gapare went from unranked into the top-50 across the country.

He’s also a top-100 player in this cycle, per the industry-generated On3 Consensus.

I’d love to see the Orange get back into the fray for Gapare. As we noted in another recent column, the ‘Cuse hasn’t had much luck as it pertains to 2023 power forwards/centers, although Syracuse basketball remains in pursuit of four-star big man Joseph Estrella.