"Very quickly, Khalif Battle is emerging from the shadow of being the younger brother of Syracuse sophomore Tyus Battle, as the 6-4 guard’s stock is hitting its own peak at the right time. After not playing his sophomore year at Trenton Catholic due to a groin injury, Battle’s had a strong offseason with Team Final’s 16Us, and now the colleges are coming around. In the last few weeks, he’s been offered by Syracuse, Washington, Miami (Fl.) and most recently UConn, which joined in the fray on Wednesday night. “It feels good because I've been waiting for this, and I've put a lot of work in, so it’s good that the hard work is paying off,” he said.
Though his brother is a star in the making on the Orange, the younger Battle brother -- who announced yesterday he'll be going to Gill St. Bernard for his junior year -- said that doesn’t give Syracuse any extra advantage in terms of his recruitment. But it’s not about trying to out-do his brother or anything of that nature; it’s just about waiting and seeing what opportunity is best.
“It’s never a competition between me and my brother,” he said. “Because I want him to be as successful as he can possibly be, and he wants the same for me. No matter what happens in life, we are always going to be proud for each other and what we accomplish.”