From the "If it’s on Twitter it must be true, unless it’s not" files…
Even though the Syracuse Orange are still trying to put the finishing touches on their 2012 recruiting class by wooing #1 rated center Nerlens Noel, they also have their eyes on the future and might have already hauled in a recruit from the class of 2013.
On his Twitter page Sunday, junior Antravious Simmons tweeted a couple of different times that he is "Cuse Bound" and has committed to SU. Credit to TNIAAM writer Dan Lyons for picking up on this. However, Simmons - aka the man with "the name you'll never forget" - also tweeted about ten hours later that he is "starting to re-think my commitment to Cuse", so it’s hard to say at this moment exactly what the real deal is.
Simmons is a 6’9", 220 pound power forward/center from South Miami High School in Florida who is ranked as the #141 overall prospect in his class by Yahoo/Rivals. Interestingly, neither ESPN, Scout.com/Fox Sports, nor 24/7 list him among their rankings for the class of 2013. He seems to be a rather fervent SU fan, as most of his tweets over the past few days directly involve Syracuse basketball.
By my calculations, if Simmons does sign with SU he would take the scholarship slot vacated by current junior guard Brandon Triche, unless someone like Fab Melo (likely) or Dion Waiters (50-50 chance) leaves school early for the NBA.
Later Sunday night, Evan Daniels of Scout/Fox Sports tweeted that Simmons’ AAU coach Kenny Gillion told him Simmons hasn’t made a decision. So is the kid just having some fun on Twitter, or are coach and player not on the same page? Stay tuned.
P.S.- If he does in fact sign with SU, my wife has already started calling him “Antivirus Simmons”, which is fantastic on many levels. Imagine the play-by-play possibilities of Antivirus defending the basket and blocking errant shots like so many junk emails and pop-up ads…
Jeremy Ryan is a writer/editor for CNYcentral.com in Syracuse. Follow him on Twitter @JeremyRyan44.