Syracuse men’s basketball: a deeper dive into recruiting targets & offers

As the Syracuse Orange football team continues to roll out the wins (oh boy, did I just jinx us), the Syracuse men’s basketball team continues to prepare for the upcoming season. While the expectations for this year’s campaign have risen, SU is still on the hunt to give coach Jim Boeheim the talent he needs to compete for multiple years.

With the football team playing at home the last few weekends, Syracuse has played host to some of its basketball recruiting targets. With that in mind, let’s recap who Syracuse has offers out to at this point in time.

2019 Offers

The Orange love their athletic combo forwards who can create turnovers in the 2-3 zone and score in transition off of those takeaways. There are three small forwards in the 2019 class that the Orange have offers out to in Precious Achiuwa, Wendell Moore, and Quincy Guerrier. Guerrier, a 6-foot-7 four-star recruit according to 247Sports, visited the Syracuse campus this past weekend. It remains possible that he could enroll as early as next semester.

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With this likely being the last year of both Frank Howard and Tyus Battle in orange, Syracuse will be looking to replace their dynamic backcourt with some new guards who can carry the offense. Syracuse still figures to have depth at the guard position beyond next year and Brycen Goodine has already pledged his commitment to the Orange, but Syracuse continues to target the in-state product Joseph Girard heavily. He’s expected to make a decision before the start of his senior basketball season.

The Orange are always looking to add some more size to their roster, and that certainly shows in the amount of offers they have out to big men. Syracuse has offers out to Akok Akok and Dimon Carrigan at the power foward position. It’s the centers in the 2019 class, however, that SU is sending the most offers out to. That list includes the likes of Isaiah Stewart, Kofi Cockburn, Kai Jones, Qudud Wahab, and John Bol Ajak. Jones, a four-star recruit according to 247Sports, was on campus last weekend for his official visit. Ajak, a three-star center according to 247Sports, will be making his visit to the Syracuse campus this upcoming weekend. Jones visited Syracuse two weekends ago.

2020 Offers

It’s never too early to start thinking two years in advance, and the Orange have made some quality offers for the 2020 class.

In terms of guards, the Orange have offered point guard Taelon Martin, shooting guards Addison Patterson and Andre Jackson (whom we caught up with this summer) as well as Syracuse native Symir Torrence. Adding more guards who can score in a variety of ways is a necessity for this Syracuse offense.

Scottie Barnes, a five-star recruit according to 247Sports, is the only small forward the Orange have offered in the 2020 class, but a player of his caliber would be a massive get for the Orange.

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Syracuse has three power forwards and three centers that they have offered in the 2020 class. The power forwards include Isaiah Jackson, Isaiah Cottrell, and Noah Collier. In terms of centers, the Orange have offered Clifford Omoruyi, Elijah Hutchins-Everett and Hunter Dickinson. Dickinson has something in common with a current Syracuse center, as him and Paschal Chukwu share the same 7-foot-2 stature. He also runs with Frank Howard’s old AAU program, Team Takeover and plays high school ball at DeMatha Catholic (same as Jerami Grant).

2021 Offers

As for 2021, Syracuse has offers out to John Camden, Frank Kepnang and Terrence Clarke, the No. 1 player in the class.

There are some talented players that the Orange are pursuing, and if a few of them commit, there will be more excitement to add on top of the 2018-19 season.