Syracuse Basketball: 4-star big-man recruit makes massive rankings jump

Recruiting analysts and scouts were prognosticating that Syracuse basketball target Nikola Bundalo was going to make a huge entrance into the 2025 national rankings, and those experts proved spot on.

Several recruiting services, of late, have updated their national ratings for the rising-junior class, and the 6-foot-9 power forward has experienced some of the largest ranking climbs across the entire country.

In fact, according to 247Sports, the four-star Bundalo has vaulted into the top 25 overall after previously being unranked. At this rate, he’s likely going to end up contending for five-star status in his class.

The Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to Bundalo in May. His offer sheet continues to grow, and the ‘Cuse will face tough competition to prevail in his recruitment.

Syracuse basketball recently got into the mix for 2025 four-star power forward Nikola Bundalo.

As a sophomore in the 2022-23 season, Bundalo was a standout at Green High School in Uniontown, Ohio. However, he has transferred to the Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, for his junior year, per a recent article from recruiting analyst Jake Weingarten, the founder of Stockrisers.com.

On the AAU circuit this spring, Bundalo performed well for the Charleston, W.Va.-based Wildcat Select in the Adidas 3SSB league. Not too long ago, he earned a lot of high praise from analysts and scouts for his play at the prestigious 2023 CrossRoads Elite Invitational in Plainfield, Ind.

When 247Sports recently updated its 2025 national ratings, Bundalo arrived at No. 22 overall, No. 6 at power forward and No. 2 in Ohio. In a recent refresh from Rivals.com, he went from unranked to No. 34 nationally.

At the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed Bundalo at No. 27 nationwide, No. 9 at power forward and No. 2 in Ohio.

While his recruiting process likely has a way to go, besides Syracuse basketball, Bundalo has already amassed scholarship offers from schools including Penn State, Nebraska, Georgetown, Cincinnati, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State, Seton Hall, Xavier, Rutgers, Kent State and Bryant.

Bundalo told Weingarten that Michigan State is also showing interest in him. It’s no surprise that a lot of Big Ten Conference teams and schools located in the Midwest are in pursuit of Bundalo.

Since the Orange offered Bundalo, I’ve seen a lot of intriguing comments about this young man from recruiting analysts and scouts. Experts say he’s a skilled big man who runs the floor and passes well, and he also can effectively score both in the paint and on the perimeter. They say Bundalo has a ton of upside.