Chris Taft, the talented 6-9 center/power forward from Xaverian High School in New York, is set to take an official visit to Syracuse this weekend. The Orangemen have a big football game with North Carolina inside the Dome and you can expect the Syracuse fans to shout his name at the game (like most fans do now during these recruiting trips).

Taft is going to be a tremendous college player. He has plenty of upside and has improved his game over the past year. He plays in a highly respected program like Xaverian so it's likely we will continue to see improvement in Taft's overall game in the next year.

This will be Taft's second official visit. He has already visited Pittsburgh, a trip he praised after he returned. Taft spoke about the new arena at Pittsburgh. The arena is now sold out for the Pittsburgh basketball season and the excitement is high on the Panther campus. Taft may also take an unofficial visit to Pittsburgh for Midnight Madness. This is not yet set up but may be worked out in the future.

So to sign Taft, it appears that the schools recruiting Chris will have to overcome a Pittsburgh edge. Taft has indicated interest in other schools too. He continues to mention interest in North Carolina, Maryland, Syracuse, Connecticut, Villanova and Miami.

Taft will likely sign in November, giving him ample time to work on his academics.