In early October of last year, Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to 2026 four-star shooting guard Dakari Spear, a top-30 national prospect from Texas.
Fast-forward to the present, and the Orange staff appears still in pursuit of the 6-foot-4, 185-pound Spear. According to a recent post on X from top recruiting analyst Sam Kayser, numerous schools have watched Spear since the beginning of the current AAU season, including Syracuse basketball.
Spear, a top-three shooting guard in his class per 247Sports, is a standout rising senior at The Colony High School in The Colony, Texas. During this year's AAU circuit, he's suiting up for the 17U team of the Irving, Texas-based Drive Nation in Nike's EYBL league.
Last month, during one of the spring sessions on the EYBL circuit, the Orange staff was on hand in Memphis, Tenn., amid an NCAA-permitted live period with college coaches in attendance, a source told me before that session. Nike's league has held three spring sessions, and its season-ending Peach Jam tournament will take place this July in North Augusta, S.C.
Syracuse basketball 2026 4-star target Dakari Spear has a lot of suitors.
Besides the 'Cuse, according to his bio on the 247Sports Web site, Spear's full offer sheet includes schools such as Alabama, Arizona State, LSU, Miami, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, SMU, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech.
In recent weeks, some of the primary recruiting Web sites have refreshed their 2026 player rankings. Per ESPN, Spear is No. 28 around the country. Over at 247Sports, he's also No. 28 overall, No. 3 at shooting guard and No. 2 in Texas.
When I wrote this article, both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, within the 2026 class, placed Spear in the top 35 nationwide.
Through the Nike league's three spring sessions, Drive Nation has gone 6-5 overall in the main 17U division. According to the EYBL's Web site, Spear is averaging 13.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while making 40.7 percent from the field and 70.4 percent from the free-throw line.
In late April, as the EYBL held a session in Mesa, Ariz., the experts at The Circuit gave Spear an honorable mention nod for their All-EYBL teams as he averaged 16.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steals per contest.