Syracuse Basketball: Newly offered forward in convo for 5 stars, top 10

Syracuse basketball hasn’t doled out a ton of scholarship offers in the 2023 cycle, but the ones that the team has pledged have gone to numerous elite prospects in this class.

Case in point is four-star forward Justin Edwards, who landed an offer from the Orange not too long ago. The 6-foot-7 Edwards is a sophomore at the Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia and runs on the AAU circuit with the Philadelphia-based Team Final.

As Edwards has shined in recent AAU competitions, including the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League at the Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C., multiple national recruiting analysts have raved about his skill-set. Those experts also say that Edwards is seeing his stock soar.

The recruiting process for Edwards likely has a long way to go, although it’s worth pointing out that the ‘Cuse has picked up numerous excellent prospects from the Philadelphia metropolitan area in recent years, such as Dion Waiters, Rakeem Christmas, Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson.

Syracuse basketball 2023 prospect Justin Edwards is rising in the national rankings.

To date, Edwards holds offers from other high-major teams including Virginia, Connecticut, Maryland, Auburn, Miami, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Temple, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, Marquette, St. John’s, VCU, South Carolina and Tennessee.

I’ve also seen media reports and comments from recruiting insiders that suggest Edwards is garnering interest from squads like Villanova, West Virginia, Michigan, UCLA, N.C. State and Arizona. Competition for his services is intense, to say the least.

The small forward is No. 21 overall in his class via Rivals.com, No. 27 at ESPN, No. 32 from the 247Sports Composite and No. 59 according to 247Sports. Thus, already, Edwards is a consensus top-60 prospect, with room to grow for sure.

In a recent article, 247Sports national basketball director Eric Bossi wrote that Edwards “looks like a five-star prospect to me,” adding that “he looks like he should be in the conversation for at least top 10 consideration.”

Heck, maybe Edwards could ultimately contend for the No. 1 national spot in the 2023 cycle. He fits the mold of the prototypical Syracuse basketball wing.

Edwards is long and athletic, with great size and height. He can score in a variety of ways and displays tremendous court vision and basketball IQ, analysts say. Let’s hope that the Orange remains in the mix for Edwards moving forward.