Syracuse Basketball: Feeling good about chances with 4-star Justin Taylor

Syracuse basketball high-priority target Justin Taylor recently took an official visit to the Hill, and from what I can gather, the trip went quite well. That’s encouraging.

Of course, the 2022 four-star wing has multiple other big-name suitors, so it’s no guarantee whatsoever that the 6-foot-6 Taylor is going to end up choosing the ‘Cuse.

Still, Orange coaches have prioritized Taylor for quite some time, according to comments from analysts and recruiting insiders. Plus, he could earn sizable minutes beginning in his freshman season.

Head coach Jim Boeheim has said more than once of late that his son, junior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim, will be done in Central New York after this upcoming term.

Boeheim could come back for a fifth year, something afforded to all college basketball players by the NCAA amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. But Jim Boeheim has noted that it’s one and done for Buddy Boeheim.

Taylor appears to have the ability to play both shooting guard and small forward, although I’ve read reports that suggest ‘Cuse coaches are recruiting him as a shooting guard. Thus, Taylor could absolutely slide into the void left by Boeheim.

Syracuse basketball may hear soon about the final decision of four-star Justin Taylor.

Taylor is a junior at the St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Va. He is universally deemed a top-100 prospect in his class, and most recruiting services rank him in the top-60 overall.

Besides the Orange, Taylor has made an unofficial visit to Virginia Tech and an official visit to North Carolina. According to media reports, he has an official visit slated for June 15-16 to Indiana.

For a while now, as I’ve written about Taylor, the four schools that have seemed to garner the most buzz in his recruitment are Syracuse basketball, UNC, Virginia Tech and Indiana.

"To that end, Taylor said in part in a Q&A with Mike McAllister, the publisher of SyracuseOnSI, that the “visits have helped and it could speed up the process, but we’ll see. I have Indiana after this one (to the ‘Cuse). That’s my last official. Taking these three visits will help me narrow it down and hopefully come to a decision pretty soon.”"

I’m not in Taylor’s inner circle, but from everything that I’ve recently read about him, the Orange has an excellent shot to win this recruiting battle.

It doesn’t hurt that Boeheim will have departed the Hill, providing ample run potentially to Taylor. Additionally, he is friends with Syracuse basketball 2021 five-star commit Benny Williams, a forward out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

I’m wishing Taylor all the best, whether he picks the ‘Cuse or not. But I have a solid feeling that he will eventually don an Orange uniform down the road.