Based on staff changes and other factors, it’s possible that Syracuse basketball coaches are changing – or better yet, evolving – their recruiting emphasis among various high school prospects in the 2025 class.
To date, based on media reports and recruiting services, the ‘Cuse staff has offered more than 20 players in the high school junior class. Some of these prospects have picked other college squads. Some of these prospects do not appear interested in the Orange at this time. And it’s certainly possible that ‘Cuse coaches aren’t heavily recruiting some of these prospects these days.
Dating back to last August, numerous 2025 players have visited the Hill, either officially or unofficially. Some additional 2025 prospects could end up visiting Syracuse basketball in the future. And at the time of this writing, in recent weeks and days, the Orange staff has doled out at least four new scholarship offers among high school juniors.
•Here are some of the 2025 prospects who have visited the ‘Cuse at least once since last August:
Four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony from New York City
Four-star point guard Nigel James from New York state
Four-star combo guard Derek Dixon from Washington, DC
Four-star power forward/center Matthew Gilhool from Philadelphia
Four-star forward Sadiq White Jr. from Charlotte, NC
Four-star point guard Tyler Jackson from Baltimore
Four-star small forward London Jemison from Connecticut
•Here are 2025 players who recently received offers from the Orange staff:
Four-star guard Acaden Lewis from Washington, DC
https://twitter.com/shon_abaev/status/1785074676466635234 from Florida
Four-star shooting guard Dante Allen from Florida
Three-star power forward/center Asher Elson from New York City
•Additionally, recent reports suggest that Syracuse basketball is recruiting four-star forward Cam Ward from Maryland hard
That’s 12 guys. Now, I can’t imagine that the Orange coaching staff is prioritizing all of these 2025 prospects. Gilhool, for one, recently said that he has reset his recruitment in part due to his primary recruiter at SU, Gerry McNamara, moving on to be the head coach at Siena.
By extension, we don’t have a clue now – at least I don’t – what the ‘Cuse roster will ultimately look like as 2025 high school prospects get set to enter college, and I don’t know how many 2025 players the Orange staff plans to bring in, while also keeping in mind portal recruiting.
In any event, with Syracuse basketball coaches having recently offered both Lewis and Allen, that to me suggests it’s possible that some of those 2025 guards who previously visited may not be priority recruits any longer, whether it’s the Orange backing off or a specific playing doing I know.
Lewis is highly interested in visiting the ‘Cuse. I could envision him turning into a 2025 priority target for the Orange. I have no reason to believe that Anthony doesn’t remain a priority for Syracuse basketball in this class.
From a look standpoint then, I’d monitor James, Dixon and Jackson. They all have numerous other suitors and have visited other programs beyond the Orange. I could see Elson emerging as a priority, particularly if Gilhool is in fact off the board, so to speak.
That brings us to the forward positional group, including both small forwards and power forwards. Here, you’ve got new recruit Abaev, along with White, Jemison and Ward. White has the ‘Cuse in his top seven, although he has noted McNamara leaving for Siena.
Jemison has officially visited the ‘Cuse. White has unofficially visited twice, but let’s see if he ends up taking an official visit to the Orange. The same holds true for Ward – he’s reportedly eyeing some upcoming visits. I don’t think that Syracuse basketball would end up prevailing for either White or Ward without landing an official visit.
Since it’s starting to get relatively late in the game for 2025 prospects as it relates to their recruiting processes, my best guess is that the Orange staff making offers now to Lewis, Abaev, Allen and Elson could suggest those guys might prove priority targets at some point.
This is completely my opinion, but if I had to venture a thought here, Syracuse basketball’s 2025 priority recruits at the moment or in the near future could entail:
Guards
Kiyan Anthony
Acaden Lewis
Dante Allen
Forwards
Sadiq White Jr.
London Jemison
Shon Abaev
Centers
Asher Elson
I could be way off base. Time will tell. I wrote this article on Tuesday night, and it went live on our Web site Thursday morning, so it’s entirely possible that the Orange staff could have offered another 2025 player, or more than one, during that stretch. Recruiting is fluid. And fun.
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