SU Basketball Recruiting: Will Eric Ayala Break The ‘Cuse’s Heart?
By Neil Adler
A nugget of SU basketball recruiting news, as four-star point guard Eric Ayala reportedly sets a timetable for his reclassification decision.
The Syracuse hoops squad has one scholarship remaining for its 2017-18 roster, and my gut tells me that head coach Jim Boeheim and his staff are eyeing two guys. One is guard Geno Thorpe, a graduate transfer from South Florida, who apparently is down to the Orange and Pittsburgh. The second is 2018 four-star point guard Eric Ayala, who is weighing a possible move to this coming year’s class.
More from basketball recruiting
- Syracuse Basketball: 4-star Elijah Moore not in top 100, and I don’t get that
- Syracuse basketball 4-star west-coast recruit, in new rankings, into top 20
- Syracuse basketball is hitting D.C. market hard in pursuit of 4-stars, 5-stars
- Syracuse Basketball: Orange has offered 4-stars who played at Elite Camp
- Syracuse Basketball: 4-star PG joins 4-star Elijah Moore in Overtime Elite
The 6-5 Ayala, a native of Hockessin, Delaware, recently told 247Sports that he is likely to make his decision about whether or not to reclassify to 2017 “after July.”
Ayala, who attends the Putnam Science Academy in Putnam, Connecticut, has a slew of offers from big-time programs such as Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Miami, Oregon and SU. However, not all of those offers are for 2017.
The 247Sports Crystal Ball has Ayala as a heavy Syracuse lean, although the prospect said in the recent 247Sports article that his recruitment is “wide open.”
Honestly, who knows what to think at this point. For months and months, recruiting analysts projected that 2017 five-star point guard Quade Green would suit up for the ‘Cuse, then he chose Kentucky.
More recently, a handful of industry experts labeled SU as the front-runner for 2017 four-star wing Jordan Tucker. Then, at the last minute, Duke offered him a scholarship, and Tucker selected the Blue Devils. So to say that the Orange is the favorite for Ayala, in my humble opinion, is really not true at all.
I’ve read a fair amount of negative comments from Syracuse fans in chat rooms and on message boards about Ayala. I get that we’re all frustrated about the latest recruiting cycle. The ‘Cuse has seen a ton of highly rated targets list the Central New York team as one of their finalists, only to ultimately head elsewhere.
Clearly, Ayala has wavered a bit and is taking his time with this decision. If he’s unsure of whether to reclassify to 2017, let the dude give it some thought. Ayala also has a bunch of schools interested in him. All of this is a lot to digest for a teenager. Check out our roundtable for more on my thoughts on this.
On the flip side, if he absolutely adored SU, he could have committed to Boeheim & Co. by now: either for 2017 or 2018. We have scholarships available in both classes. Maybe he likes Syracuse, but isn’t ready to pull the trigger.
Given our recent bad luck on the recruiting front, with others like Arizona and Kansas on the table, I don’t love our chances. But, really, it’s all a crapshoot.
If Ayala came to the ‘Cuse commencing with the 2017-18 stanza, he could definitely land significant court action. Sophomore Frank Howard is unproven. Howard Washington is brand new. Freshman Tyus Battle is more of a two-guard than a point guard.
The dilemma here is: how long should JB and his assistants wait on Ayala? Sure, he’s generally regarded as a top-100 prospect. But should Ayala remain indecisive for months and months, do we then lose out on possibly nabbing Thorpe?
Thorpe’s hometown is Pittsburgh, so it makes sense that his finalists include the Panthers. Yet, Pitt is undergoing a massive rebuild. If he wanted to go there, he would have already committed, I believe.
Next: Syracuse Basketball Recruiting: Dolezaj Commits To The ‘Cuse
I’d hate to miss out on Thorpe. The same goes for Ayala. Ahhh, the joys and frustrations of recruiting. Whatever happens, I’ll say this: we better secure one of these talents. Otherwise, they become just two more examples of those who we hoped would have come, but then they got away.