Syracuse Basketball: 2022 four-star wing target just blew up in rankings

Two weeks haven’t even passed since 2022 four-star wing Kamari Lands said he would re-open his recruiting process back up, thereby de-committing from Syracuse basketball.

That development definitely stung a bit, especially since several other top-flight targets have gone back on their verbal commitments to the Orange in recent years.

However, the ‘Cuse appears firmly in the mix for another 2022 four-star wing, and that prospect has seen his national rankings soar of late.

Lands still holds higher overall ratings than this other Syracuse basketball target, Chris Bunch, but the 6-foot-7 Bunch isn’t that far off from the 6-foot-8 Lands.

As I always like to say, rankings from recruiting services are good context for my articles, but they don’t necessarily tell the entire story.

Syracuse basketball four-star target Chris Bunch has seen a huge ratings bump.

Both Lands and Bunch are talented, versatile high-school players. Wherever Lands ends up, whether that’s with a college team or via a professional option, I’m sure that he will shine.

By extension, if the Orange was able to win the recruiting battle over Bunch, that would provide a really strong boost to the team’s 2022 recruiting cycle.

Rivals.com, one of the primary recruiting services, updated its 2022 rankings a few days ago. Bunch made one of the biggest leaps in this ratings refresh, increasing 44 spots to No.  81 overall. He’s also the No. 24 small forward.

Lands fell 22 placements in the Rivals.com update, to No. 52 nationally. But to be fair, he’s still rated higher by Rivals.com, ESPN and the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

As of Monday evening, the 247Sports recruiting service arranged Lands at No. 59 across the country, whereas Bunch is No. 54. But when 247Sports updates its 2022 rankings, we’ll have to see where each prospect ends up.

Like I said earlier, they’re both terrific high-school prospects. Some of my fellow ‘Cuse fans like to point out on social media and in chat rooms that Lands could be a one-and-done player or head straight from high school to the professional ranks, while maybe Bunch could suit up in college for two to three seasons.

I’ve felt for a while now that Syracuse basketball has a strong chance at getting Bunch, who took an official visit to the Hill earlier this summer.

The rising senior, who will play for the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, this upcoming term, has obtained relatively recent offers from Mike Hopkins-led Washington, Alabama, Illinois, Minnesota, Arkansas and Ole Miss, among others.

In total, he holds more than 20 offers from a range of high-major groups. A recent tweet from Hoopgate says that Bunch will take a second official visit to Rutgers in the near future. That’s something to keep an eye on.