4-star guard Dakari Spear, who will visit Syracuse basketball, names five finalists

Syracuse basketball 2026 priority target Dakari Spear from Texas is down to five schools. The Orange is on the list.

I expected the 'Cuse to make the cut here. Throughout his recruiting process, the four-star shooting guard has been recruited hard by Syracuse basketball coaches, the 6-foot-4 Spear has said in interviews. I've also been told that by a source in recent months.

Spear is among a handful of rising seniors who are the Orange's top targets in 2026. Some have included the 'Cuse in their recent list cuts, while others are setting up official visits to the Hill and other college campuses.

Moving forward, Spear's top five will include Syracuse basketball, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech, On3/Rivals national reporter Joe Tipton reported on Friday.

Syracuse basketball is in the hunt for 2026 four-star guard Dakari Spear.

As a junior in the 2024-25 campaign, Spear averaged 23 points and seven rebounds per game on 55 percent shooting from the field, Tipton says. Spear spent 2024-25 at The Colony High School in The Colony, Texas.

For his senior year, Spear has transferred to the powerhouse Dynamic Prep in Irving, Texas, which in early April reached the final game of the Chipotle Nationals season-ending national championship tournament in high school basketball. At the end of last season, Dynamic Prep was 34-5 overall and ranked No. 1 nationally by MaxPreps in a final top 10 of teams that don't compete for state-affiliated titles.

The Orange staff has visited Spear a couple of times, including at his former high school and on the AAU circuit during the latest season. He recently told Sam Lance and Zach Smart of zagsblog.com that he will officially visit Syracuse basketball, although a date hasn't been finalized.

Spear has said that he's forging a strong relationship with the 'Cuse staff. He's a top-75 national prospect and a top-10 shooting guard within his class, per several recruiting services.

This spring and summer in Nike's EYBL regular season, Spear played for the 17U team of the Irving, Texas-based Drive Nation. He averaged 14.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest. At the EYBL's Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C., last month, he averaged 11.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Things are starting to come more into focus for the Orange's 2026 recruiting efforts. Like many of its peers, the 'Cuse remains in search of its first verbal pledge among rising high school seniors.

Spear has the Orange in his top five. Deron Rippey Jr., a 2026 five-star point guard, has Syracuse basketball in his top 12 and will officially visit SU in late September during the same weekend of another priority recruit, four-star wing/small forward Vaughn Karvala.

Four-star big man Asher Elson will take an official visit to the Hill in October. Five-star shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr., who has unofficially visited the Orange, has the program in his top six. Earlier this week, four-star power forward/center Aliou Dioum included Syracuse basketball in his final six.