Four-star big man Aliou Dioum is a huge Melo fan.
Dioum, a 6-foot-11 center in the 2026 class, recently discussed some of the schools involved in his recruitment during an interview with top writer Sam Lance on zagsblog.com.
One of the college squads mentioned is Syracuse basketball, which offered a scholarship to Dioum in late October of last year, around the same time the Orange offered three of his prep-school teammates.
Regarding the 'Cuse, Dioum said to Lance: "Syracuse is a good program. That’s one of my favorite schools because one of my favorite players of all-time, my top-five, Carmelo Anthony, went to Syracuse. So that would be a good program for me too."
Love it!
Syracuse basketball has a lot of offers out to 2026 prospects.
Dioum is a rising senior at the powerhouse CIA Bella Vista in Phoenix, which competes in the loaded 15-member Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic ("EYBL Scholastic"). Last fall, Dioum's CIA Bella Vista teammates who also received Orange scholarship offers were 2026 four-star point guard Miles Sadler, 2026 four-star guard Rokiem Green and 2027 five-star big man Paul Osaruyi.
Additionally, one of the top targets for Syracuse basketball in the 2026 cycle, four-star wing/small forward Vaughn Karvala, has transferred from Oregon High School in Oregon, Wis., to CIA Bella Vista for his upcoming senior year. Karvala, a top-30 national prospect, has unofficially visited the Orange and may officially visit Syracuse basketball at some point.
Dioum, who is originally from Senegal and ranks in the top 90 overall of his class, per On3, holds offers from schools such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Fresno State, Ole Miss, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Loyola Chicago and UC Santa Barbara, according to recruiting services. Per Lance, Dioum is garnering interest from teams such as Colorado and Kansas.
Dioum says that he will look to take some official visits after the current AAU season is over, and he told Lance that he's eyeing trips to Georgia Tech and Missouri.
This spring and summer, Dioum is suiting up for the 17U team of the Phoenix-based Arizona Unity in Nike's EYBL league. At the time of this writing, for Arizona Unity, Dioum had been averaging 4.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while making 42.9 percent from the field and an impressive 93.8 percent from the free-throw line.
This weekend is a live period on the shoe-sponsored AAU circuits, and I've been told the Syracuse basketball staff is in North Augusta, S.C., for the latest EYBL session.
While Orange coaches have doled out numerous offers to 2026 prospects, many of those offers have gone to point guards, shooting guards, combo guards and small forwards out on the wing. I'm only aware of several offers made to 2026 big men (i.e., power forwards/centers).
Those 2026 power forwards/centers who have secured 'Cuse offers include Dioum, four-star Quinn Costello and four-star Asher Elson, who was previously in the 2025 cycle but has reclassified to 2026. Earlier this week, Syracuse basketball also offered five-star Christian Collins, although he's more of a hybrid small forward/power forward.