Syracuse basketball offers 4-star, top-10 center who is menace on glass

Syracuse basketball coaches have gotten into the recruiting fray for a four-star center in the junior class who excels at rebounding, something that should delight Orange fans.

Per his Twitter page, 2024 big man Patrick Ngongba II has received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse coaching staff. I’ll add here that Orange coaches, from a recruiting standpoint, have numerous ties to the 6-10 center through his high-school and AAU programs.

Ngongba attends St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va., which during the 2022-23 campaign was a top-10 group across the country and earned an invite to the 2023 GEICO Nationals.

Looking ahead to 2023-24, St. Paul VI Catholic is expected to again prove one of the nation’s best teams and should significantly contend for a high-school national title.

In grassroots basketball, Ngongba runs with the Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league. One of his AAU teammates is Syracuse basketball 2024 four-star priority target Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9 power forward who took an official visit to the Hill toward the beginning of April.

Syracuse basketball has dished out an offer to an elite rebounder, 2024 four-star center Patrick Ngongba II.

Okay, so let’s provide a little context here. Both Orange head coach Adrian Autry and new assistant coach Brenden Straughn previously served as assistants with the Team Takeover program. Additionally, a while back, Autry was an assistant coach at St. Paul VI Catholic.

Last weekend, the EYBL held its first session of the AAU circuit over the spring and summer months at the LakePoint Champions Center in Emerson, Ga.

According to media reports and commentary from recruiting experts, during this EYBL session, which came amid an NCAA live period, Autry and Straughn were in attendance for Team Takeover.

In four contests, Team Takeover went 2-2 overall. Per the EYBL Web site, Ngongba averaged 11.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per encounter, while hitting on an impressive 78.3 percent from the field.

He led the EYBL in rebounding during this first session. For his performance, the analysts and scouts at MADE Hoops named Ngongba to their All-EYBL squad.

According to recruiting services, besides Syracuse basketball, Ngongba’s offer sheet includes Kansas State, Georgetown, Iowa, Virginia, Butler, George Washington, Wichita State, Ole Miss, Maryland, Pittsburgh, George Mason and Notre Dame, among others.

Numerous recruiting Web sites rate him as a top-100 national prospect in the 2024 class. ESPN places Ngongba at No. 70 nationally and No. 10 at center, while On3 ranks him No. 71 overall and No. 8 at his position.

As it pertains to the 2024 cycle, Syracuse basketball coaches have offered other centers, including four-star Thomas Sorber from Philadelphia. A report from late March suggested that the 6-foot-9 Sorber wanted to take a visit to the ‘Cuse.