Syracuse Basketball Recruiting: Orange Class of 2016 Hanging Around Top 25

Syracuse Orange basketball fans have become accustomed to a high level of recruiting success in recent years. So much so that "only" being considered among the top 25 incoming classes might make the SU faithful feel a bit jilted. But with two players -- Matthew Moyer and Tyus Battle -- committed thus far, it's actually pretty impressive the team is able to stay that high at all.

Below's a look at where Syracuse falls on the major sites:

Scout

After updating its final class of 2016 player rankings, Scout adjusted its team ratings a bit. Syracuse comes in at 23rd, behind five ACC schools, St. John's, Villanova, Connecticut and Harvard (!!!). But again, the class is just two-deep so far. Scout's staff had this to say:

The Orange landed a couple talented prospects from the region, starting with wing Tyus Battle, a versatile athlete from New Jersey who should fit right into Syracuse's system. Cuse also landed an athletic power forward from Connecticut in Matthew Moyer.

247Sports

Unlike Scout, 247 doesn't write up anything for individual teams, so there's minimal context behind them giving SU the 33rd spot, beyond the numbers. The Orange sit behind many of the same ACC and regional rival recruiting schools here. It should be noted that one more addition to the class would likely vault them into the top-15 range, however.

Rivals

Rivals is far more optimistic about the impact of the Orange's two commits, slotting in Syracuse at 19th. This list is also a bit dated -- mid-March -- so it doesn't include every recent recruiting move. Nonetheless, here's what their experts said about SU:

NCAA sanctions and scholarship reductions don't seem to have hurt the Orange's recruiting efforts at all. Battle is a big wing with shooting touch while Moyer is a bouncy and versatile swingman who has some C.J. Fair in his game.

ESPN

ESPN also doesn't expand on these rankings -- at least for non-Insider readers -- but they do slot the Orange in at 21st. As is the case with all of these rankings, they're the only school with just two recruits to come in this high in the rankings. Many of the top schools have four or five. Syracuse also beats out several schools with four or five players committed too.

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Obviously we're not done just yet, so this can change quite a bit before all's said and done. The Orange have at least two scholarships left to give (one more on top of that if Malachi Richardson leaves for the NBA Draft), and some key targets that could receive them. As mentioned yesterday, one new name is Turkish seven-footer Omer Yurtseven. Another is long-time target Taurean Thompson, whose visit "went well" up on the Hill last weekend.