Syracuse basketball is in the top six of 2026 four-star big man Aliou Dioum, who picked up a scholarship offer from the Orange last fall.
According to On3/Rivals national reporter Joe Tipton, the 6-foot-11 center has a final six of the 'Cuse, Illinois, Mississippi State, UNLV, Wake Forest and West Virginia.
NEWS: 4⭐️ Aliou Dioum is down to six schools, he tells @Rivals.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) August 13, 2025
The 6-10 center is a top-80 recruit in the 2026 class. https://t.co/GQcHk4ODk2 pic.twitter.com/T9b2viLnJa
Dioum has officially visited Wake Forest and scheduled upcoming official visits to UNLV, West Virginia and Mississippi State. We'll continue to monitor whether he ends up making a visit to the Hill.
Earlier this summer, Dioum told Sam Lance of zagsblog.com that Syracuse is one of his favorite schools, because one of his all-time favorite players is Orange legend Carmelo Anthony.
Syracuse basketball remains in the mix for 2026 four-star center Aliou Dioum.
Dioum, originally from Senegal, is a rising senior at the powerhouse CIA Bella Vista in Phoenix, which competes in the loaded Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic ("EYBL Scholastic"). CIA Bella Vista was one of the top teams around the country in the 2024-25 campaign, earning a bid to last spring's season-ending Chipotle Nationals.
Last fall, the Orange staff also offered scholarships to three of Dioum's CIA Bella Vista teammates: 2026 four-star point guard Miles Sadler, 2026 four-star guard Rokiem Green and 2027 five-star big man Paul Osaruyi.
Vaughn Karvala, a 2026 four-star wing/small forward and priority target for the 'Cuse in his class, will spend his senior season at CIA Bella Vista. Karvala has unofficially visited the Orange and will take an official visit to Syracuse basketball in late September.
When Rivals recently updated its 2026 rankings not too long ago, Dioum arrived at No. 80 overall, No. 11 center and No. 9 in Arizona. The industry-generated Rivals Industry Ranking, at the time of this writing, placed him at No. 113 nationally.
During the latest AAU season, Dioum competed for the 17U team of the Phoenix-based Arizona Unity in Nike's EYBL league. The Orange staff was in for Dioum and Arizona Unity amid NCAA-permitted live periods in recent months.
In the EYBL regular season, Dioum averaged 4.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Last month, at the EYBL's season-ending Peach Jam tournament in North Augusta, S.C., he averaged 8.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest.
Things are starting to come into focus for the 'Cuse 2026 class. Syracuse basketball, still looking for its first verbal pledge in this cycle, is heavily involved with other 2026 targets such as five-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr., five-star shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr., Karvala, four-star power forward/center Asher Elson, four-star shooting guard Dakari Spear and five-star guard/small forward Alex Constanza, among others.