Syracuse Basketball: Want 6-foot-8 guard at top of zone? SU just offered

Syracuse basketball has offered numerous four-star and five-star prospects within the 2023 cycle, and some of these high-school players are eyeing top-10 overall status within this class.

The Orange’s list of scholarship offers expanded in the past few days, as the ‘Cuse pledged an offer to Spencer Mahoney, an intriguing 2023 prospect who plays high-school and AAU basketball in New York City.

There isn’t a ton of information online about the 6-foot-8 Mahoney at this juncture, but his Twitter page says that he’s a shooting guard. Talk about some tremendous height and length that could prove lethal at the top of the Orange’s trademark 2-3 zone.

According to his Twitter account, Mahoney attends Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., and he runs on the AAU circuit for the Bronx, N.Y.-based PSA Cardinals.

https://twitter.com/SpencerMahoney2/status/1428542450277224452

In recent years, numerous Syracuse basketball targets have played for the PSA Cardinals program, including 2022 five-star guard Zion Cruz, who holds an offer from the ‘Cuse.

Syracuse basketball has entered the recruiting mix for 2023 guard Spencer Mahoney.

According to Mahoney’s Twitter page and the Verbal Commits Web site, he holds early scholarship offers from a handful of other teams besides the Orange. Those squads include Robert Morris, Harvard and Siena. Texas A&M just offered as well.

I did see from Mahoney’s Twitter account that he recently took unofficial visits to both DePaul and Northwestern. We will continue to monitor whether he ends up making a trip to the Hill.

I’m sure that some Syracuse basketball fans out there want to chime in that Mahoney is unranked by the primary recruiting services. That’s true, at least for now.

But these national ratings aren’t everything. Plus, as I’ve been writing in columns over the past several months, the Syracuse basketball coaching staff is doing a wonderful job of late offering under-rated prospects in the 2022 and 2023 classes before they eventually blow up on a national scale.

That the Orange has gotten involved with Mahoney early on says something about this young man’s potential. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he enters the top-150 or even top-100 nationally within his cycle in the future.

College coaches are now able to communicate directly with 2023 players, and there have been several live periods over the summer where these coaches could watch high-school prospects in person.

As such, while Mahoney’s offer list is relatively small for now, with the ‘Cuse in the recruiting fray for him, I imagine that his recruitment is going to grow.