Syracuse Basketball: Four 2023 targets could end up in top-10 nationally

A lot of Syracuse basketball fans will interact with me on social media after I post recruiting stories. Some say that the Orange doesn’t get enough top-flight prospects. Others counter that national recruiting rankings mean little.

I’m somewhere in the middle. I take these ratings with the proverbial grain of salt, because such rankings are somewhat subjective. Additionally, Syracuse basketball coaches don’t necessarily recruit for their system based on ratings, but rather based on fit.

Do I want the ‘Cuse to land elite high-school players rated as five stars and in the top-10 across the country within their respective class? Of course.

Conversely, do I think that the Orange can be successful on the court even without these kinds of prospects? I absolutely do.

We’ve detailed numerous times of late how the ‘Cuse has solid momentum with its 2022 cycle, and Orange coaches are also building up a stellar target list for their 2023 class as well.

Syracuse basketball is eyeing multiple 2023 prospects near the top of the pack.

I am the first to acknowledge that unless the ‘Cuse picks up some of these exceptional high-school players, their rankings don’t really mean much at all.

But let’s examine some of these rising juniors and where they presently stand in the 2023 national landscape. For one, the Orange offered a scholarship to five-star Elijah Fisher last summer.

The 6-foot-7 wing is out of Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, Ontario. Numerous blue-blood teams are in the mix for Fisher, who is a consensus top-10 player according to the recruiting services that rate Canadian prospects.

Not too long ago, the ‘Cuse offered four-star forward Justin Edwards from the Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia. In a recent column, we discussed how a national recruiting analyst thinks that the 6-foot-7 Edwards should be in the conversation for top-10 status.

Another recent offer by the Orange went to five-star combo guard Simeon Wilcher, who attends Roselle Catholic High School in Roselle, N.J. The 6-foot-4 Wilcher is already a top-10 prospect nationally in his class, per some recruiting services.

Finally, five-star power forward G.G. Jackson could be on his way toward a top-10 national ranking, according to some analysts.

The 6-foot-8 Jackson is from Ridge View High School in Columbia, S.C. His first offer was from Syracuse basketball, about a year ago. Jackson continues to rake in high-major offers, from Atlantic Coast Conference squads and others, and he recently participated in the prestigious top-100 high-school basketball camp put on by the National Basketball Players Association.

Jackson said on Twitter that he recently secured an offer from Florida State. In a recent article, Rivals.com national analyst Jamie Shaw said he believes Jackson is a top-10 guy in the 2023 cycle.