Syracuse basketball 4-star target eyes Peach Jam title, talks move to No. 1 Montverde

Dante Allen, the Syracuse basketball recruiting target and 2025 four-star shooting guard from Miami, has some big-time goals for this summer and his senior year of high school.

The 6-foot-4 Allen, who received a scholarship offer from the Orange staff in late April of this year, recently disclosed that he would spend his final season in high school at the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., which went undefeated in the 2023-24 term and won the national championship.

In a recent interview, Allen called the decision to transfer to Montverde a "tough" one, given that he had a ton of success as a junior while starring for the Riviera Preparatory School in Miami.

This spring, Allen has proven a top performer on the AAU circuit while suiting up for the 17U team of the Miami-based Nightrydas Elite in Nike’s EYBL league. Later this month, Nightrydas will be among the favorites to capture the coveted Peach Jam crown.

Syracuse basketball faces growing competition for 2025 four-star shooting guard Dante Allen.

Besides the 'Cuse, Allen's offer sheet includes schools such as Michigan, Villanova, Memphis, Miami, Florida Gulf Coast, UCF, LSU, Illinois, Creighton, Georgetown, Marquette and Notre Dame. Other suitors showing an interest in him include Houston, Oklahoma State and Stanford, according to media reports.

Recently, Allen has visited Villanova and Notre Dame. His dad, Malik Allen, played four seasons at Villanova, so I assume that those Wildcats will prove a top contender in Dante Allen's recruitment.

Per reports, assistant coach Dan Engelstad is serving as the Orange's lead recruiter for Allen. Since he was offered by the 'Cuse, I've come across various reports, interviews and comments from national analysts that speak to the Syracuse basketball staff being in regular contact with Allen.

In late May, the EYBL held a session in Indianapolis amid an NCAA live period, and the Orange staff was in attendance for Allen at a Nightrydas contest. It wouldn't surprise me if Allen takes more campus visits before making a college decision; let's see if Syracuse basketball can get him to the Hill for an official visit in the coming months.

Allen, who last month was praised by analysts and scouts for his performances at the National Basketball Players Association ("NBPA") Top 100 Camp in Orlando, Fla., averaged 21.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 3.0 assists per game as a junior in 2023-24, helping guide Riviera Prep to its second consecutive Florida High School Athletic Association ("FHSAA") Class 3A state tournament championship.

In late May, word broke on social media that Allen would transfer to Montverde for 2024-25. In a recent interview with media outlet Pro Insight, Allen discussed a variety of topics, such as his move to the Eagles. Given that Riviera Prep, too, is a stellar program, he said it was "definitely tough" to transfer to Montverde.

However, competing in his senior year at Montverde, which is part of the loaded 14-member Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic, will enable Allen to play alongside, and against, the top high school prospects around the country. That kind of player development will prove a great experience for Allen in preparing for the collegiate level, he says.

A season ago, the Eagles didn't lose a game and in early April of this year, they claimed the 2024 Chipotle Nationals in Brownsburg, Ind. The Montverde roster for 2024-25 will get a sizable overhaul, given that the team had numerous seniors within its line-up this past term, including several former Syracuse basketball targets in Robert Wright III, Derik Queen and Curtis Givens III.

To that end, Montverde does have numerous new prospects coming in who are highly ranked, such as Allen, who says he's pumped to continue a tradition of excellence with the Eagles, which reside as the preseason No. 1 squad in a recently disclosed, way-too-early top 25 from high school hoops analyst and scout Samad Hines.

Allen, ranked as a top-80 national prospect and a top-15 guard in the 2025 cycle by several recruiting services, told Pro Insight that it will be a tough act to follow, so to speak, what Montverde did in 2023-24, especially since the Eagles have a lot of new players ahead of next season.

He and his Montverde teammates want to show the high school basketball world that even though they lost key guys from a season ago, they're still the best team in the country, "the top dog," as Allen put it.

But first, from July 13 to July 21 in North Augusta, S.C., the EYBL's annual season-ending Peach Jam will take place amid several NCAA live periods. I assume that the Orange staff will be in attendance for Allen, and Nightrydas is one of the top seeds in the 17U division.

He noted that Nightrydas is aiming for a third straight Peach Jam title, and this time in the 17U field, the division that analysts, scouts and college coaches will focus on the most later this month.