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Kamari Lands, a top-40 small forward and four-star recruit in the Class of 2022, decommitted from Syracuse.

Lands announced the decision on Twitter after initially committing to the Orange in April 2021 and becoming the first member to join Jim Boeheim’s squad from the 2022 class.

I would like to thank Coach Boeheim, Coach Mac and @Cuse_MBB for everything they have done. And with that being said I will be reopening my recruitment.

— Kamari Lands (@iso_marii) August 21, 2021

The Indianapolis native played for Prolific Prep (CA) and is ranked 35th nationally and 9th-best at the forward position in the 2022 class according to 247Sports.

Lands received offers from Texas Tech, DePaul, Miami (OH) and Xavier before choosing to join Syracuse in spring 2021 when he announced he was “1000% committed.” He joins Dior Johnson and Darius Bazley as high-profile recruits to decommit from Syracuse.

As a junior, Lands averaged 15.1 points per game, 2.7 assists per game and 4.7 rebounds per game. Syracuse first offered to Lands back in June 2020. Texas Tech also made an offer in August 2020 according to 247Sports recruiting timeline. Lands later announced his official commitment to the Orange in April 2021.

“It’s always been my favorite school growing up,” Lands told Sports Illustrated Syracuse after he committed.

The decision to decommit came after Lands chose to transfer to Hillcrest Prep for his senior season. In an interview with syracuse.com, Lands stated that his decision to decommit stemmed from the recent NCAA decision to allow college athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness (NIL).

“I’ve been thinking about this ever since the NIL bill came out,’’ Lands told syracuse.com. “I haven’t had the opportunity to be recruited in that way.’’

Lands also mentioned that Syracuse remains one of his top schools and said that he might still take a visit this fall. However, he also stated that all opportunities — collegiate or professional — are now back on the table.

Despite losing Lands, Syracuse’s 2022 recruiting class still contains four-star forward Justin Taylor and three-star guard Quadir Copeland. The Orange have also added transfers Jimmy Boeheim, Cole Swider and Symir Torrence for the upcoming 2021-22 season.

Published on August 21, 2021 at 7:09 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu