Cole Swider to announce commitment on Friday; Xavier, Duke, Villanova and Syracuse in the mix

Mark your calendars for Friday afternoon. That’s when 4-star forward Cole Swider will be announcing his college decision.

The finalists remain the same - Villanova, Duke, Xavier and Syracuse. Swider visited the latter three for official visits in succession in the past week, and opted not to take an official visit to Villanova.

Villanova did receive a pair of unofficial visits during the season and Swider said he’d seen all he needed to see of the Wildcats. At face value, that likely doesn’t bode well for the ‘Cats heading down the stretch, but you could take it to mean that Swider felt he didn’t need to waste another visit if he was fond of Villanova.

Swider would be a perfect fit in Villanova’s 4-out-1-in offense. He has great size at 6’8” and is an elite shooter. His game is starting to expand and he’s been one of the best scorers on the Nike EYBL circuit this spring. Whoever gets him is getting a great player.

The interwebs would have you believe that this has boiled down to a Xavier vs. Duke battle, with Xavier considered the odds-on favorite. Don’t write Villanova completely off until Swider makes the call as Swider has played his recruitment close to the vest from start to finish, but we’re not getting the warm and fuzzies on this one.