Syracuse basketball is pursuing numerous top-flight talents in its 2022 recruiting cycle, and among them is four-star wing Justin Taylor.
Taylor, a 6-foot-6 junior at the St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Va., has on more than one occasion spoken highly of the Orange coaching staff and the program as a whole.
Some analysts believe that the ‘Cuse has an excellent chance at landing Taylor, although competition for him is really intense. He holds a range of high-major scholarship offers, including more recent ones from squads such as North Carolina, Providence and Virginia.
Recruiting guru Jake Weingarten, the founder of Stockrisers.com, has conducted an interview with Taylor that contains a bunch of interesting nuggets about the 2022 prospect and his recruiting process.
When asked by Weingarten which groups are “heavily in the mix,” Taylor said that “UNC, Virginia, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Indiana, and Georgetown contact me the most.”
Taylor told Weingarten that Big Ten Conference member Purdue is showing interest, and other recent interviews given by the 2022 wing note that fellow Big Ten Conference team Michigan is among those which have expressed interest in Taylor.
Syracuse basketball remains in contention for 2022 four-star prospect Justin Taylor.
"In his interview with Weingarten, Taylor said of the Orange, “With Syracuse, I’ve built a really good relationship with Coach GMac [Gerry McNamara] and their huge thing is their playing style and getting the right guys for that zone and guys who can score the ball. Their ‘22 class is a big class for them and they want me to be one of those lead guys.”"
Taylor, who is ranked No. 60 overall in the 2022 class by 247Sports, confirmed that Syracuse basketball 2021 five-star commit Benny Williams has talked to him about suiting up for the ‘Cuse. That topic is something we’ve mentioned a couple of times in recent columns.
Taylor said that he and Williams have played together on the AAU circuit for the Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover. The prospect of them competing on the Hill together obviously is really exciting to ‘Cuse fans, myself included.
Regarding his commitment timeline, Taylor said to Weingarten, “Since I wasn’t able to have a high school season this year, I’m really looking forward to playing this spring and summer. I look to cut my list this spring/start of summer and make a final decision on where I’m going at the end of the summer.”
In mid-February, we should mention, analyst Jamie Shaw made a prediction in favor of North Carolina for Taylor on Rivals.com.