Syracuse Basketball: 2023 California prospects to take unofficial visit to SU

Syracuse basketball coaches are showing interest in three 2023 high-school prospects who hail from California, and at least two or maybe all three of them plan to take an unofficial visit to the Hill this coming weekend, according to their AAU coach.

The three players are three-star guard/small forward Keyon Kensie Jr., power forward Spencer Ezewiro and forward Malachi Scott. In grassroots basketball, they all suit up for the Los Angeles-based Elev8 Elite, an Adidas-sponsored program.

Cory DeSanti, the head coach of Elev8 Elite, says that the Orange coaching staff has interest in all three of these 2023 prospects.

DeSanti says that he will be bringing Kensie and Scott, and maybe Ezewiro, on an unofficial visit to the ‘Cuse this coming weekend for the team’s 2022-23 regular-season finale on Saturday, March 4, against Wake Forest at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse basketball is displaying interest in several 2023 players from California.

I’ve noted in other recent columns that 2023/2024 four-star small forward Marcus Adams Jr. and 2026 small forward Maximo Adams are planning to take an unofficial visit to the Orange on March 4.

DeSanti says that this unofficial visit to Central New York will not happen for the Adams brothers, as Marcus Adams Jr. is eyeing a potential official visit to UCLA this coming weekend.

Both of the Adams brothers attend Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles and play for Elev8 Elite.

The 6-foot-7 Kensie attends Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills, Calif. DeSanti says that Kensie currently holds scholarship offers from teams such as Washington State, San Diego, San Jose and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Kensie is garnering interest from Syracuse basketball, Mississippi State, Oregon, Kansas and Southern California, DeSanti says. His bio on the 247Sports Web site also notes an offer from New Mexico.

The 247Sports recruiting service ranks Kensie as three stars, the No. 46 small forward and the No. 36 prospect in California within the 2023 class.

Just a couple of days ago, Kensie tallied 21 points in leading Taft to the Los Angeles City Section Open Division championship. Per the MaxPreps Web site, during the 2022-23 season, Kensie is averaging 24.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

Both the 6-foot-8 Ezewiro and the 6-foot-7 Scott go to LA Premier Prep, a basketball academy based in Los Angeles.

According to a tweet in late January from their head coach, Keion Kindred, Ezewiro and Scott have proven among the top performers in 2022-23 at LA Premier Prep.

Per DeSanti, Scott holds interest from college teams such as San Diego, Coastal Carolina, North Dakota State and Wichita State.

Ezewiro, meanwhile, is getting interest from squads including Kansas, UNLV, Fresno State, San Diego, Southern Utah, California State University, Northridge, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ezewiro’s brother, Bradley, is a sophomore forward/center at Georgetown.