Syracuse basketball reaches out to 4-star, top-60 prospect, a top-10 center

Not too long ago, former Syracuse basketball recruiting target Papa Kante requested a release from his national letter of intent to Big Ten Conference member Michigan and planned to reopen his recruitment back up.

Recent tweets from recruiting insider Adam Zagoria and top scout Andrew Slater say that numerous college squads have reached out to the 6-foot-10 Kante, who is a four-star, top-10 center in the 2023 class.

Both Zagoria and Slater wrote in their tweets that the Orange is among the teams that have contacted Kante, who is a senior at the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn.

The ‘Cuse coaching staff offered a scholarship to Kante in late August of 2021, when he took an unofficial visit to the Hill to compete in the Orange’s annual Elite Camp. Per 247Sports, Kante verbally committed to the Wolverines in October of last year and signed his NLI to play at Michigan the following month.

Syracuse basketball has reportedly reached out to 2023 four-star center Papa Kante.

In mid-April, media reports surfaced stating that Kante would request a release from his NLI to Michigan and reopen his recruitment.

Prior to committing to the Wolverines, he held nearly 20 scholarship offers, including from the ‘Cuse, Michigan, Maryland, DePaul, Georgetown, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Miami, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers, Seton Hall, TCU, Tennessee and Mike Hopkins-led Washington, among others.

Both Zagoria and Slater said in their tweets that, lately, Kante has heard from Syracuse basketball, Penn State, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Providence, Villanova, Texas, Memphis, Clemson, Georgetown, DePaul and St. John’s.

Numerous recruiting services rate Kante as a top-100 national prospect and a top-10 center within the 2023 cycle. On3 has him at No. 57 across the country, No. 6 at center and No. 3 in Connecticut.

Looking ahead to the 2023-24 season, the Orange does have three centers on its roster, and they are sophomore Mounir Hima, freshman Peter Carey and 2023 three-star commit William Patterson out of The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J.

Senior Jesse Edwards, last month, left the ‘Cuse and committed to West Virginia, leaving a large void at the center spot for Syracuse basketball coaches in the 2023-24 term. The other three centers on the roster hold promise and potential, but they are inexperienced.

This weekend, the Orange is expected to have Florida State big-man transfer Naheem McLeod on the ‘Cuse campus for a visit. McLeod is a 7-foot-4 sophomore center who hails from Philadelphia.