New Syracuse basketball 4-star target Shon Abaev, an elite scorer, eyes summer visits

Shon Abaev from Florida, a 2025 four-star small forward and consensus top-60 national prospect in the high school junior class, received a scholarship offer from Syracuse basketball in late April.

The 6-foot-8 Abaev, described by analysts as a versatile shot-maker and an elite scorer, had a terrific 2023-24 campaign and is off to a fast start this spring on the AAU circuit.

His offer sheet continues to grow, and Abaev said in a recent interview that he's looking to set up some college visits for the summer. Hopefully, the Orange will receive a visit from him. Stay tuned on that.

Abaev stars for the Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. In grassroots basketball this spring and summer, he is suiting up for the 17U team of the Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based SOH Elite in the Under Armour Association ("UAA") league.

Syracuse basketball recently got into the mix for 2025 four-star small forward Shon Abaev.

Besides the 'Cuse, per his X page, Abaev has landed newer scholarship offers from Big Ten Conference member Michigan and Southeastern Conference school Georgia.

According to recruiting services, his offer list also includes schools such as Oregon, Tennessee, Arizona State, Auburn, Creighton, Dayton, Florida, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kansas, LSU, St. John's, Southern California, UCF and USF, among others.

In a recent interview with the X account SportsCenter NEXT, Abaev mentioned some of the schools he's in regular contact with these days including Syracuse basketball, Tennessee, Oregon, Michigan, UCF and several others.

To date, he has taken official visits to both Oregon and Tennessee. In that recent interview, Abaev said that he and his family are working to schedule more visits for the summer, after the current AAU season winds down.

He says that for the moment, he's laser-focused on winning a UAA championship and then seeing what other scholarship offers may arrive his way. Abaev says that he doesn't have a timeline at this juncture for making a college decision.

The UAA league held its first session from April 26 to April 28 in South Carolina. Following that session, Abaev was deemed a standout performer by various national analysts and scouts, including ESPN recruiting director Paul Biancardi.

In South Carolina, per the experts at The Circuit, Abaev averaged 20.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The Circuit named him to its All-UAA Session I first team.

According to the UAA Web site, a second session is scheduled for May 17 to May 19 in Ohio, followed by the third session from July 11 to July 14 in Georgia, and then the season-ending playoffs from July 19 to July 21 in Illinois.

In the recently completed 2023-24 term for Calvary Christian, as a junior, Abaev averaged 18.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals per contest, while he connected on 43 percent from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc, and 76 percent from the free-throw line, according to his bio on the MaxPreps Web site.

When I wrote this column, Abaev's highest 2025 rankings came via On3, which placed him at No. 32 overall, No. 8 at small forward and No. 6 in Florida. He is also the No. 35 national prospect in his class, according to the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking.

Abaev is one of at least four 2025 players who have secured scholarship offers from the Orange staff in recent weeks, as the Syracuse basketball recruiting focus in this cycle continues to evolve and perhaps somewhat shift.