Syracuse Basketball: 5-star big with SU offer talks teams in most contact

Five-star Yves Missi, one of the best centers nationwide regardless of class designation who received a Syracuse basketball scholarship offer nearly a year ago, says four schools at present are reaching out to him the most frequently, according to several media reports.

Recent articles from On3 national analyst Joe Tipton and Rivals.com national analyst Rob Cassidy both indicate that the 6-foot-11 Missi, these days, is hearing the most from Texas, Nebraska, Baylor and Stanford.

The elite center, who is a consensus top-25 national prospect in the 2024 class, is planning to take an official visit to Texas beginning on December 8, according to reports.

Missi has already made an official visit to Baylor, and he’s also taken unofficial visits to Stanford and UConn. The Orange offered him in December of 2021, and Missi’s offer sheet also includes Seton Hall, Kansas, Baylor, LSU, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, UConn, Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia Tech, Harvard, UCLA, St. John’s, Rutgers, DePaul, Norfolk State and USC Upstate.

Syracuse basketball may be a long shot for five-star center Yves Missi at this point.

In October, Tipton reported that Missi may look to take an official visit to Nebraska as well. In that piece, Missi said other squads recruiting him were Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, UCLA and DePaul.

When stories have gotten published about Missi lately, I haven’t seen a whole lot of mentions of the ‘Cuse, so it’s unclear to me if there is mutual interest between Syracuse basketball and Missi at this time.

I have gone on record in saying that I think businessman and top SU booster Adam Weitsman should reach out to Missi to possibly discuss Weitsman’s lucrative name, image and likeness opportunities.

Missi is praised by national analysts and scouts as being perhaps the top defensive big man in the 2024 cycle, and his offensive skills continue to improve.

The Orange offered him before his recruitment blew up, as Missi was a standout performer this spring and summer on the AAU circuit for the Bronx, N.Y.-based PSA Cardinals in Nike’s EYBL league.

College coaches could begin contacting 2024 prospects directly this past June 15. More recently, Missi’s offer list and national rankings have soared.

He is presently a junior at the powerhouse Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., which earned a berth in the most recent GEICO Nationals held this past spring.

Prolific Prep is deemed a significant national-title contender in the recently commenced 2022-23 season, according to high-school hoops experts.

In the latest top 25 that came out earlier this week from The HS Circuit, Prolific Prep found itself ranked at No. 7 around the country.

We’ll obviously continue to track Missi’s recruiting process, although I’d be surprised if Syracuse basketball is one of his finalists, assuming that Missi does have a list cut at some point in the future.

On3, Rivals.com and the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, at this juncture, rate him as five stars. Multiple recruiting Web sites place Missi as the No. 2 center in the 2024 cycle, and On3 rates him as No. 6 nationally within the junior class.