Syracuse Basketball: Former targets highly placed in final Rivals rankings

Syracuse basketball (Syndication: The Commercial Appeal)
Syracuse basketball (Syndication: The Commercial Appeal)

Rivals.com recently released its final national ratings for the top-150 players in the 2021 class, and a bunch of former Syracuse basketball targets made the cut.

I know, I know. Who really cares where these prospects are ranked, since they aren’t coming to the Hill? That’s fair. But I do always find it interesting to see how high-school players who received scholarship offers from the Orange are faring on a national scale.

Kennedy Chandler, a senior at the Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan., is No. 7 overall, up four spots. He is a five-star point guard who has committed to Tennessee.

Speaking of the Volunteers, fellow Tennessee commit Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is new to the Rivals.com rankings, checking in at four stars and No. 32. The elite power forward, out of Scotland Campus in Scotland, Pa., had the ‘Cuse in his top six before picking the Volunteers and reclassifying up from the 2022 class to the 2021 cycle.

Power forward Arthur Kaluma, a senior at Dream City Christian School in Glendale, Ariz., previously committed to UNLV but then re-opened his recruiting process back up. Kaluma has been talking to Syracuse basketball coaches, according to media reports, and Rivals.com has him as four stars and No. 47 overall, up one spot.

Former Syracuse basketball targets arrived in the final Rivals.com 2021 ratings.

Samson Johnson, a senior at The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J., is bound for Connecticut. The four-star big man is No. 66 nationally in the Rivals.com rankings, up 11 spots.

Quincy Allen, from the Maret School in Washington, D.C., is No. 98, down 36 placements. The four-star small forward has committed to Colorado.

John Camden, a three-star small forward, is No. 116, falling 26 positions. He is a senior at the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., after transferring there from Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pa. Camden has committed to Memphis.

Two unranked big men are Riley Mulvey and Ashton Smith. Mulvey, a center out of the St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Conn., chose Iowa and moved from the 2022 class to the 2021 cycle.

Smith, a power forward/center out of Legacy the School of Sport Sciences in Spring, Texas, picked Texas A&M.

Additionally, two former Orange targets in the 2021 class ended up enrolling early with their college teams. They are four-star center Franck Kepnang with Oregon and four-star center Micawber Etienne, who is at UCLA.