Syracuse Basketball: Acaden Lewis just visited; now 4-star Shon Abaev has SU official

One of the top all-around performers across the country on the AAU circuit this spring and summer plans to make a trip to Syracuse basketball later this month.

Travis Branham, a top national analyst with 247Sports, said on his X page and in an article on Wednesday that 2025 four-star wing/small forward Shon Abaev from Florida has lined up six upcoming official visits.

One of those officials will be to the Orange. Branham reports that the 6-foot-8 Abaev will take an official visit to Syracuse basketball from August 30 to August 31. By the way, Syracuse football will have its 2024 season opener on Saturday, Aug. 31, when the 'Cuse will host Ohio at the JMA Wireless Dome.

News of Abaev's expected official visit to the Hill is naturally awesome to see, but not altogether surprising. In recent months, Abaev has suggested in interviews that he was eyeing a possible trip to Central New York, something that various national recruiting analysts also echoed of late.

Still, for the Syracuse basketball staff to land an upcoming official visit from the top-40 national prospect in the rising senior class is highly encouraging. Orange coaches offered a scholarship to Abaev in late April of this year.

Syracuse basketball soon will host 2025 4-star Shon Abaev on an official visit.

Abaev, a standout at the Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has previously taken official visits to Georgia, Arizona State, Oregon and Tennessee.

His full offer sheet, which totals more than 20, includes schools such as Maryland, Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Xavier, Missouri, Georgia, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee, Arizona State, Auburn, Creighton, Dayton, Florida, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kansas, LSU, St. John's, Southern California, UCF and USF, among others.

In grassroots hoops, this spring and summer, Abaev was an absolute stud while starring for the 17U team of the Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based SOH Elite in the Under Armour Association ("UAA") league.

During two spring UAA sessions, Abaev averaged 22.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 blocks per game while connecting on 38.5 percent from beyond the arc. The experts at The Circuit named him their offensive MVP of those sessions that ran in April and May.

More recently, last month, at a third UAA session, Abaev tallied averages of 24.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest, earning him overall MVP and offensive MVP honors from The Circuit.

Abaev electing to take an upcoming official visit to the Orange comes after the 'Cuse recently welcomed 2025 four-star guard and top-40 national prospect Acaden Lewis from Washington, D.C., on an unofficial visit to the Hill on August 1.

Lewis, who has Syracuse basketball in his top eight, also recently went on an unofficial visit to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Duke on August 5.

To date, the Orange has one verbal pledge in its 2025 class, from five-star forward Sadiq White Jr., a top-20 overall player who will spend his senior year at the powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Besides Lewis and Abaev, Syracuse basketball coaches are prioritizing a handful of other four-star and five-star prospects in the 2025 cycle, a class that several recruiting analysts have opined of late could prove quite special on a national scale.