Syracuse Basketball: Top contenders for 4-star Roddy Gayle Jr. final six

Syracuse basketball high-priority 2022 target Roddy Gayle Jr. will reveal a top six on Monday, and the Orange should make the cut.

Syracuse basketball appears in an extremely strong position with 2022 four-star guard Roddy Gayle Jr., and I can’t envision a scenario where the Orange isn’t among Gayle’s top six, which he will announce this Monday, Nov. 9.

The 6-foot-5 Gayle, a junior at Lewiston-Porter High School in Youngstown, N.Y., is a top-80 prospect nationally in the 2022 cycle, according to the majority of recruiting services.

He’s also the No. 7 shooting guard and No. 1 prospect in New York state, per both the 247Sports Composite and the 247Sports recruiting service.

The ‘Cuse offered Gayle about a year ago, and Syracuse basketball coaches have prioritized him for some time now. Multiple recruiting analysts have told me of late that the Orange is in great shape with Gayle, although no experts have logged predictions for him on the 247Sports Web site or Rivals.com.

Additionally, the ‘Cuse is the only squad listed as “warm” under Gayle’s bio on the 247Sports Web site. Given everything that I’ve read about his recruitment in recent months, it would totally shock me if Gayle doesn’t include Syracuse basketball in his top six.

So other than the Orange, which teams are most likely to stay in the running after Gayle drops his six finalists? It’s not easy to decipher, since Gayle holds more than two-dozen offers from a range of high-major crews.

Per the main recruiting Web sites, besides the ‘Cuse, Gayle’s other offers are from Alabama, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Georgia, Kansas, Louisville, LSU, Marquette, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, TCU, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Xavier, Bryant, Buffalo, Canisius and Niagara.

Other than Syracuse basketball, here are the top contenders to make the top six for four-star guard Roddy Gayle Jr.

From all of the background that I’ve compiled on Gayle’s recruitment, besides the Orange, the teams that I believe are most likely to fall within his top six come from this group of Kansas, Marquette, Ohio State, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Oregon, Alabama and Georgetown.

All of those school have gotten mentioned on one occasion or another as among those units which are prioritizing Gayle. I can’t see him not including the Jayhawks, a squad that annually is one of the best teams in the sport.

Marquette in recent seasons has developed guards quite well, and Syracuse native Symir Torrence, a sophomore guard, is on the Golden Eagles roster.

It pains me to include former Big East Conference rivals such as the Huskies and the Hoyas, but they’ve both gotten buzz regarding Gayle. Same goes for fellow Atlantic Coast Conference squads Pittsburgh and Louisville.

Ohio State is a really good Big Ten Conference team, Alabama is led by former Buffalo head coach Nate Oats, and Oregon is usually among the best squads in the Pac-12 Conference.

We’ll obviously provide updates on Gayle this Monday to see if I actually got any of these predictions for his top six correct!