Syracuse basketball got a verbal commitment from 2022 four-star wing Justin Taylor not too long ago, giving the Orange two stars to date in this cycle.
The 6-foot-6 Taylor, a junior at the St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Va., chose the ‘Cuse over four other finalists in North Carolina, Indiana, Virginia Tech and Virginia.
National analysts have said of late that Taylor is performing quite well in AAU events for his squad, the Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover. Strangely enough, though, Taylor recently fell in one set of national rankings and is rated way too low in a second one, from my perspective.
Let’s see where Syracuse basketball commit Justin Taylor is ranked by recruiting services.
ESPN recently updated and expanded its national rankings for the 2022 cycle, and the recruiting service is now including the top-100 players.
Although Taylor wasn’t previously included in ESPN’s national ratings, he has squeaked into the latest version at No. 99 overall. So I guess that’s a good thing.
In my opinion, however, Taylor should be placed higher than No. 99. He’s a top-50 to top-60 prospect. ESPN also has Taylor as the No. 26 small forward and the No. 3 prospect in Virginia.
We should note that Taylor also suits up at shooting guard, and I believe that is the position he’s likely to play for the Orange. Particularly since the 6-foot-8 Kamari Lands, a fellow four-star wing from Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., has also given a verbal commitment to Syracuse basketball.
The 247Sports recruiting service has updated its top-150 player rankings for the 2022 class as well. Here, Taylor fell 10 spots from No. 56 to No. 66 overall. Okay, that’s a little bit better than ESPN.
At small forward, 247Sports has Taylor at No. 18 nationally, as well as the No. 2 high-school player in Virginia.
Rivals.com, on the other hand, moved Taylor up a decent amount when it published its most recent version of the top-150 prospects across the country in the 2022 cycle.
Nationally, Taylor rose 15 placements to No. 54, according to Rivals.com. He is also the No. 13 small forward, per this recruiting service.
Look, these sorts of rankings are somewhat subjective. I rely on them for context, without question, but they also have to get taken with the proverbial grain of salt.
Lands is legit. Taylor is legit. And Taylor surely has an opportunity to climb back up in some of these national ratings as he continues to shine on the AAU circuit and during his senior year of high school.