Syracuse Basketball offers 5 prospects a scholarship at Elite Camp

Syracuse Basketball recently held a one-day elite camp where several prospects from the 2023 and 2024 classes attended.

The Syracuse Orange completed their annual one-day elite prospect camp on Saturday. The Elite Camp is generally designed to bring younger high school players to the SU campus to see the school’s facilities and allow the Syracuse coaches to evaluate them during play at the Melo Center. Syracuse Basketball: Analyzing Orange 2021 incoming recruiting class.

A few of the campers left with a scholarship offer from Jim Boeheim. Boeheim offered five players overall, with four of them members of the class of 2023 and one from the class of 2024 (Donnie Freeman). The players from the junior class that received overtures were DJ Wagner, Papa Kante, Joseph Estrella, and Reid Ducharme.

"“It was definitely a great camp,” Wagner told All Syracuse FN. “We learned a lot from the drills and that kind of stuff. We definitely learned a lot and had fun competing. We had some good competition there, so it was definitely a fun experience.”"

Besides the five players offered a scholarship, a trio of others who already had offers from the Orange were also in attendance — Justin Taylor (committed), Peter Carey, and Simeon Wilcher.

DJ Wagner

The 6-3 point guard is considered the top prospect in the class of 2023. Wagner is the son of former Dajauan Wagner, who played at Memphis and was the No. 6 overall selection by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the grandson of Milt Wagner, who played professional basketball and was an assistant coach in college for more than a decade. Wagner plays for former NBA player Rick Brunson at Camden (NJ) high school.

Wagner had an outstanding Nike EYBL summer session, earning The Circuit’s Top Underclassmen Award as the 16-year-old played up a level for Scholarship Elite as he averaged 18.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.0 steals.

Syracuse is just the third program to officially offer Wagner, with Temple and Villanova being the others. However, Kentucky has been linked to him and will likely offer him soon.

Wagner is coming off a sophomore campaign where he averaged 22.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game for the Panthers this past season on his way to being named 2020-21 N.J. Gatorade Player of the Year.

Scouting Report: Scorer’s mentality. Has a good length. Quick jumper. Nice, fast release on shot with tons of range. Lightning-fast. Ability to finish at the basket with either hand and in traffic. Good distributor with outstanding handles.

Papa Kante

The 6-10 Senegal native picked up his eighth scholarship offer with SU’s overture despite having just started to play hoops in 2019. He currently plays at South Kent Prep.

"“Papa is a 6-10 power forward/center with versatility,” South Kent head coach Raphael Chillious said. “He can score in the post but also has a nice turn and face up game. He prides himself on toughness, playing hard and communicating at a high level. He’s only played organized basketball for just under three years, so he’s just scratching the surface of what he will be prior to entering college in two years.”"

Siena, TCU, East Carolina, Georgia, Rutgers, Pitt, UMass, and Bryant have also offered Kante. He also has drawn interest from Kansas, Washington, Tennessee, Arizona, Virginia, Miami, UConn, UCF, UConn, Marquette, and Ohio State.

Scouting Report: Runs the floor well. Very Strong. Good athleticism. Excellent rim protector. Possesses a variety of post moves and finishes at basket through contact. Nice jumper off the hop with 15′-18′ range. Posts up well.

Joseph Estrella

Estrella is a 6-10 forward from South Portland High in Maine. The Orange are the first to offer him.

Scouting Report: Above-average athleticism. Keeps the ball high. Excellent footwork. Sweet post moves. Smooth Jumper with 3-point range.

Reid Ducharme

The 6-6 Boston combo guard, ranked as the No. 98 prospect by Rivals, received his first scholarship as an eighth-grader from NJIT. Ducharme also has offers from DePaul, UMass, Stanford, UConn, DePaul, Iowa, and Providence. Brown and Hartford have also made their interest known. He currently plays at Brewster Academy.

Donnie Freeman

The 6-8, 190 pound forward, out of Waldorf (MD), is the lone high school sophomore at the camp to receive an offer. He also holds offers from Maryland, Old Dominion, and Georgetown.

Players with Syracuse offers

Justin Taylor

Taylor is a consensus top-100 player in the class of 2022. The Charlottesville (Va.) native verbally committed to the Orange on June 26. He chose SU over Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, and Virginia Tech.

Scouting report: Explosive and smooth athlete who is very skilled. Versatile offensively as he can score on all three levels.

Peter Careyn

The 7-0 center, a Maryland native, is currently playing for Northfield Mount Herman School in Massachusetts. SU, which extended an offer in mid-July, is his sixth offer and just second high-major, with Rutgers being the other. Iona, St. Bonaventure, UMass, Brown, and Bryant have also offered.

Simeon Wilcher

The 6-4 combo guard, a consensus top 15 player in the class of 2023, picked up an offer from the Orange in mid-July. The New Jersey native holds 19 offers in total, with Ohio State, Oregon, Iowa, Kansas, Connecticut, Auburn, Illinois, Duke, Kentucky, Miami, and UCLA are among those who have offered Wilcher.

Scouting Report: Explosive,  physical, and fiery athlete with a quick first step. Possesses silky smooth jumper with outstanding range.