Syracuse Basketball: Buzz has shifted for 2022 4-star Roddy Gayle Jr.

Syracuse basketball has made the top six for 2022 target Roddy Gayle Jr., but momentum has moved to another team.

When Syracuse basketball high-priority 2022 target Roddy Gayle Jr. revealed his top six on Twitter, and the Orange remained in contention, I got optimistic about the chances that the ‘Cuse would land the four-star guard.

However, that optimism has rapidly transformed into concern. Not long after Gayle listed his top six of Syracuse basketball, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Georgetown and Ohio State, a bunch of recruiting experts and industry observers on the 247Sports Web site and Rivals.com logged predictions for the 6-foot-5 Gayle in the direction of the Buckeyes, a crew that suits up in the rugged Big Ten Conference.

Not good. Hey, the recruiting world is fickle, and these prognostications don’t necessarily guarantee that Gayle will select Ohio State, however, the optics for the Orange at this juncture aren’t so rosy.

The ‘Cuse coaching staff has long prioritized Gayle, who is a junior at Lewiston-Porter High School in Youngstown, N.Y., and a top-80 prospect nationally in the 2022 cycle.

And many Orange fans have longed for Gayle to join ‘Cuse commit and five-star point guard Dior Johnson in the team’s promising 2022 class.

I’ve even had multiple analysts tell me of late that they believe Syracuse basketball is in a great position to secure Gayle, so hopefully this recruiting bout is far from over.

Syracuse basketball is in the top six for Roddy Gayle Jr., but Ohio State may prove the front-runner for him.

Gayle, the No. 7 shooting guard and No. 1 prospect in New York state within the 2022 class according to both the 247Sports Composite and the 247Sports recruiting service, said on Twitter that he expects to reveal his collegiate destination this coming Friday, Nov. 13.

Hopefully, between now and then, the Orange will pick up some projections from recruiting analysts for Gayle, who held more than two-dozen scholarship offers from a range of high-major squads.

On Sunday, we took a look at the top contenders to make Gayle’s half-dozen finalists, with a group of 10 schools having the best shot.

Those 10 teams were Gayle’s ultimate top six, along with Kansas, Louisville, Oregon and Alabama. I’m a bit surprised to see that the Jayhawks missed the cut, but Gayle’s collection of finalists is terrific, with a ton of Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East Conference ties.

We’ll keep tabs on analyst predictions for Gayle throughout the week, and my fingers are crossed that he picks Syracuse basketball, even if I’m not overly optimistic of that outcome happening.