Syracuse Basketball: Analyst prediction for five-star forward Jarace Walker

Jarace Walker, a 2022 five-star power forward who received a scholarship offer from Syracuse basketball more than a year ago, is a consensus top-20 prospect in his class.

In all honesty, I haven’t heard about much buzz at all between the 6-foot-8 Walker and the Orange, but I guess you never know for sure how things will pan out in the often rapidly changing recruiting world.

Still, he is a supreme talent in the 2022 cycle, and whichever college squad lands him will have a game-changer within this particular class. After blue-blood team North Carolina offered Walker last October, there seemed to be some strong buzz between him and the Tar Heels.

But UNC has undergone a head-coaching change, with the legendary Roy Williams retiring and Hubert Davis taking the helm in Chapel Hill, N.C. Whether that could sway Walker’s recruitment at all is unclear to me.

However, one national recruiting analyst has logged a prediction for Walker, and it’s not to the Tar Heels. Jamie Shaw actually has changed his projection for Walker from UNC to Alabama on Rivals.com.

The Crimson Tide is led by head coach Nate Oats, who formerly held the same post at Buffalo. Oats and his group had a stellar 2020-21 campaign, and Alabama is faring well on the recruiting trail of late.

Five-star Jarace Walker, who holds a Syracuse basketball offer, recently took some visits.

Walker is a junior at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where ‘Cuse 2021 five-star commit Benny Williams also played prior to heading to the Hill.

I had hoped that the IMG Academy connection between Walker and Williams would help the Orange’s chances with Walker, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Walker holds around 20 high-major scholarship offers, although he seems to be narrowing his focus as his recruitment carries onward. According to his bio on the 247Sports Web site, Walker has officially visited Alabama, Auburn, Houston and Ohio State. All four of those units are excellent college basketball squads.

Travis Branham, a national analyst with 247Sports, notes in a recent piece that other squads recruiting Walker at this juncture include Florida State, North Carolina and Michigan.

When various recruiting services recently updated their national ratings for the 2022 class, Walker checked in at No. 9 with Rivals.com, No. 12 at 247Sports and No. 16 via ESPN. He is also No. 11 overall in this cycle, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.