Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim made some interesting remarks about the team’s recruiting efforts in the 2022 cycle.
Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim says that he and his assistants are pursuing multiple stellar prospects in the 2022 class, but Boeheim says he hasn’t “lost anybody that I committed to come to” the Orange.
Boeheim spoke for about 45 minutes on a Zoom call with reporters on Thursday, and I participated. Toward the end of the call, Boeheim got asked about 2022 five-star point guard Dior Johnson de-committing from the ‘Cuse a few days ago.
Per NCAA rules, Boeheim couldn’t specifically mention Johnson by name, because collegiate coaches can’t discuss high-school players who are unsigned. However, it was fairly lucid, at least to me, that Boeheim was speaking about Johnson.
In a nutshell, Johnson made a verbal commitment to the Orange this past February, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Boeheim committed to Johnson.
“We didn’t commit anybody” in the 2022 class, Boeheim told us, adding, “That means me committing to somebody. That never happened.”
Boeheim said that high-school prospects make announcements as it pertains to their recruitments, and that’s okay. But, he added, “We haven’t lost anybody that I committed to come to Syracuse.”
I admire and respect Boeheim for his consistent candidness, and I’ll take his word here. Whatever has gone on behind the scenes between Johnson and the ‘Cuse coaching staff is their business.
Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim says 2022 is an important class for the Orange.
Junior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim and small forward Alan Griffin could have said their good-byes to the squad when the 2022 cycle arrives for the ‘Cuse, unless Boeheim and Griffin decide to use the extra season of eligibility that the NCAA has granted to student-athletes amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
We’ve outlined how Syracuse basketball is pursuing a handful of top-flight point guards and wing players in the 2022 class, and Jim Boeheim says that he’s hopeful the ‘Cuse will land some “really good players” in that cycle.
Boeheim also notes that he is focused on prospects who are primarily interested in coming to college, rather than heading directly from high school to the NBA or other professional paths.
Without question, as it pertains to Johnson, he could definitely end up going from high school straight to the NBA’s G League, or even overseas.
I fully expect that a contingent of Orange fans will read Boeheim’s comments here and say that this is a case of sour grapes, since Johnson has re-opened his recruiting process.
However, until Johnson had signed a national letter of intent and made his commitment to Syracuse basketball official, nothing was ever, well, official. Johnson is just a junior in high school, with a long way to go until he would have come to the Hill, another college team or to the pro ranks.
Boeheim knows a lot more about Johnson, his personal circumstances, and his academic situation than the rest of us. So when Boeheim says that he hasn’t committed to anybody in the 2022 class, including Johnson, I wholeheartedly believe him.