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Syracuse Basketball Recruiting: Extends Offer To 2018 4-Star Wing From Rochester

By Neil Adler

Feb 22, 2017; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange head coach Jim Boeheim reacts to a play against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half at the Carrier Dome. The Orange won 78-75. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2017; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange head coach Jim Boeheim reacts to a play against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half at the Carrier Dome. The Orange won 78-75. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Syracuse basketball team appears to be adding some more beef to their 2018 recruiting efforts. What could this addition mean?

The Syracuse basketball squad, with legendary head coach Jim Boeheim now in tow for several more years, continues to remain busy on the recruiting front, and not just for next year.

Boeheim and his assistants have offered a scholarship to four-star prospect Jeenathan Williams Jr., a small forward/shooting guard in the 2018 class who attends the University Preparatory Charter School in Rochester, N.Y.

Recruiting analyst Pat Lawless first broke the news of Williams receiving an offer from the ‘Cuse, with Williams himself then taking to Twitter to retweet the Lawless report, and several others that have since followed.

According to 247Sports, Williams is 6-5 and ranked 113th nationally, as well as 26th at the shooting-guard position. His profile on the 247Sports Web site says that Williams has landed offers from a handful of schools, including Georgia Tech, Marquette, Providence, Rhode Island and Temple.

Over at ESPN.com, meanwhile, he has a grade of 84 and is slotted 30th at the small-forward

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position.

I read a bunch of articles online about Williams, and, from what I can tell, his interest in the Orange is fairly high. His mid-range game appears solid, and Williams is versatile, with the ability to play either shooting guard or small forward. His stroke from beyond the arc, apparently, does need a bit of work.

Still, I get the sense that Williams would fit nicely into Boeheim’s 2-3 zone. He’s athletic and long, the prototypical wing that SU likes to recruit.

With Boeheim committed to roaming the Syracuse sideline beyond the 2017-18 campaign, following Mike Hopkins’ departure to Washington, I’m curious how that may affect recruiting – either in a good or a bad way.

Perhaps prospects such as Williams will better gravitate toward Central New York knowing that Boeheim isn’t going anywhere for a while. On the flip side, Hopkins had served as the program’s primary recruiter in recent years. It’s all speculation at this juncture. But fun to discuss, nonetheless.

Williams is the latest in a string of players from the 2018 class to collect an offer from the ‘Cuse. Others include three-star point guard David Duke, four-star point guards Eric Ayala and Jahvon Quinerly, four-star shooting guards A.J. Reeves and Brandon Slater, and four-star small forward Cole Swider.

Next: Syracuse Basketball: Player Grades for the 2016-2017 Season

Ayala has indicated that he might reclassify to 2017, although he’s yet to make a decision. Boeheim, in a press conference earlier this week, said that SU isn’t done recruiting for the upcoming season. Between the 2017 and 2018 classes, I expect a flurry of activity to occur in the near future.

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