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Thursday it was announced by Corey Evans of Recruiting Rundown that Syracuse had officially offered Cheickna Dembele.
Syracuse has offered 2016 SPI big man Cheickna Dembele after being seen by head coach Jim Boeheim today, per source
— Corey Evans (@coreyevans_10) April 7, 2016
Boeheim and staff visited Dembele Thursday and it the second time they have visited him. This time, Dembele got the offer from the Orange. We now know that Syracuse has the ability to fill three more scholarships this off-season. The staff is likely planning to take one more freshman from the class of 2016 and it will likely be Taurean Thompson or Cheickna Dembele. Thompson has been offered by both Arizona and Kansas and the Orange will have a fight on their hands in order to get him to the Hill.
Dembele is a 6-foot 11-inch, 234-pound center. Dembele has offers from the likes of Iowa St, Missouri, and North Carolina St. His height and length in the zone would make him a great defender and tremendous rim protector. If Dembele commits, he will be behind both DaJuan Coleman and Paschal Chukwu on the depth chart.
Dembele came to America last fall from Mali and has since put on about 20-pounds of muscle. The SPI center averaged 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks per game. Jareem Dowling, Dembele's head coach at SPI, says that Dembele's ceiling is that of the Thunder's Serge Ibaka. Others have compared Dembele to former Orange Baye Kieta with more of an offensive game. Dowling said that Dembele also shot 80 percent from the free throw line.
"He was 14-for-14 in our last game," Dowling said. "We had a technical foul and usually you send a guard to shoot the technical. My assistant coach said 'Jareem, send Cheick!"