Syracuse Basketball: Canadian recruit has ‘freak athleticism,’ eyes 5 stars

According to national recruiting analysts and scouts, new Syracuse basketball target Efeosa Oliogu could make a serious run at the No. 1 overall ranking in his class when all is said and done.

The 6-foot-6 Oliogu, who has ridiculous athleticism and versatility per experts, isn’t ranked in the 2025 cycle by all of the primary recruiting services, because he hails from Canada, and not all recruiting Web sites rate Canadian prospects.

I’ve always felt that was sort of lame, but in any event, some recruiting services have the ultra-talented guard/wing as four stars and inside the top 20, and Oliogu absolutely could be in line for five-star status.

Oliogu, who received an Orange scholarship offer at the team’s recently held Elite Camp, is entering his sophomore year at the United Scholastic Academy in Toronto.

He’s also a member of the Toronto-based Canada Elite in the Under Armour Association league for AAU competitions. During the most recent grassroots basketball circuit for Canada Elite, Oliogu played up two age levels and did quite well, according to analysts and scouts.

Syracuse basketball recently offered four-star prospect Efeosa Oliogu.

According to recruiting services and his Twitter page, besides the ‘Cuse, Oliogu’s offer sheet includes Seton Hall, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Rutgers, Stonehill College, Long Island, North Carolina A&T, Providence, Washington State, Oregon, TCU, DePaul and Siena.

Those are some pretty impressive offers so early on in his recruitment. College coaches can’t even directly contact 2025 prospects until June 15 of next year.

So when the contact period does open up for this cycle, I’d imagine that Oliogu’s list of offers will significantly grow, if it doesn’t prior to then.

When The Circuit unveiled its 2025 national rankings not too long ago, Oliogu checked in as four stars and No. 18 overall in this class. He’s not far from the five-star cutline, by the way.

Back in March, On3 national analyst Jamie Shaw said in an article that Oliogu is tracking as one of the top high-school players in Canada, despite his young age, and he’s also likely to emerge as one of the top prospects throughout the entire 2025 class.

In a tweet from late July, The Hoop Herald scout Noah Buono said that Oliogu has “freak athleticism” and a big frame, gets downhill with precision, shoots well and defends well.

"Shaw added in part that “physically, Efeosa Oliogu looks the part of a college upper-classman. He is lengthy, with a strong frame and explosive straight-line athleticism. He plays the game with a lot of confidence as a wing scorer. Oliogu is most comfortable playing in straight lines toward the rim. There is upside defensively with his athleticism and frame.”"

Oliogu’s teammate at both the United Scholastic Academy and with Canada Elite is 2023 four-star guard Vasean Allette. The 6-foot-3, top-100 player recently disclosed a list of 10 finalists, but he also said in a recent interview with scouting service Pro Insight that the Orange is one of his dream schools.