Syracuse Basketball: 4-star Vaughn Karvala to officially visit same weekend as 5-star PG

Late September will prove a massive weekend for Syracuse basketball coaches pertaining to their 2026 recruiting efforts.

Fast-rising Vaughn Karvala, a four-star wing/small forward, will take an official visit to the Orange during the weekend that begins on September 26, a source confirmed to me on Sunday. Top 247Sports analyst Mike McAllister had this news first.

The 6-foot-7 Karvala, who has jumped into the top 30 nationally per ESPN, will make a trip to Central New York on the same weekend that Syracuse basketball also hosts 2026 five-star point guard and top-20 national prospect Deron Rippey Jr. on an official visit.

I first reported a few days ago about the news regarding the 6-foot-2 Rippey, who is a standout at the Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J. As I noted in a separate column on Sunday, Rippey and Karvala are two of the top 2026 targets for the Orange staff.

Syracuse basketball will welcome four-star Vaughn Karvala to Central New York again.

Karvala, last November, took an unofficial visit to the Orange, and he picked up a scholarship offer from the 'Cuse shortly thereafter. His offer sheet also includes schools such as Alabama, Arizona State, Iowa, Marquette, Ole Miss, Xavier and Wisconsin.

Schools such as Tennessee and Oregon are showing an interest in Karvala, a top-50 national prospect per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite who, in late June, took an official visit to Big East Conference member Xavier.

Not too long ago, Karvala announced that he would transfer from Oregon High School in Oregon, Wis., to the powerhouse CIA Bella Vista in Phoenix for his senior season. CIA Bella Vista's roster includes several other prospects who hold offers from the 'Cuse.

The Bears were a top-10 national team in the 2024-25 season. In his preseason top 25 ahead of 2025-26, top national analyst/scout Samad Hines has CIA Bella Vista at No. 3 overall.

The Bears compete in the loaded Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic ("EYBL Scholastic"), and as a senior in EYBL Scholastic play, Karvala will battle several other Syracuse basketball four-star and five-star recruiting targets.

Lately, the Orange staff has been in regular communication with Karvala, who on the AAU circuit is a standout for the 17U squad of the Milwaukee-based Team Herro in Nike's EYBL league. This weekend has been a live period in grassroots hoops, and I was told that Syracuse basketball coaches would be in for Karvala.

This spring and summer for Team Herro, Karvala has averaged 14.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while making 40.6 percent from the field, 34 percent from beyond the arc and 68 percent from the charity stripe.