Syracuse Basketball: 4-star, top-30 target details visits; is SU one of them?

For a while now, numerous national analysts and recruiting insiders have pegged Syracuse basketball 2023 four-star target Matas Buzelis as one of the hottest prospects across the country in his class.

The 6-foot-10 Buzelis, who can suit up at multiple positions, including guard and on the wing, has already received a big-time ratings bump according to one recruiting service. That trend is likely to occur as other recruiting Web sites refresh their national rankings for the 2023 cycle.

Eric Bossi, the national basketball director for 247Sports, wrote in a recent article that Buzelis has “made a very strong case for five-star status and is pushing for at least the national top 10.”

The Orange coaching staff got in relatively early on with Buzelis, offering him a scholarship last November. Ever since this past mid-June, when college coaches could begin communicating directly with 2023 high-school players, Buzelis’ list of offers has continued to grow.

His suitors include a range of impressive high-major programs, such as North Carolina, Kansas, Florida State, Illinois, Florida, Purdue, Oklahoma, Arizona, UCLA, Maryland, Connecticut, DePaul, Providence, Wake Forest, Nebraska and Western Illinois.

A native of the Chicago area, Buzelis is heading into his junior season at the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., a powerhouse prep-school squad whose alumni include multiple guys who have gone on to play for the ‘Cuse.

Syracuse basketball faces stiff competition for four-star guard/wing Matas Buzelis.

Bossi says that, recently, Buzelis has taken unofficial visits to UConn, DePaul, Kansas and Purdue. There is also a trip to Wake Forest, and Buzelis will travel to Florida State at the end of September.

I didn’t see anything in Bossi’s article about a possible visit by Buzelis to the Hill. Is that a bad sign? I’m not a recruiting analyst, nor am I in Buzelis’ inner circle.

So we’ll have to see how his recruiting process plays out. Naturally, it would prove terrific if he does take a visit to Central New York down the road.

Rivals.com recently updated its 2023 national rankings, and Buzelis soared 15 spots to No. 27 overall. When all is said and done, I think that Buzelis will end up as a consensus five-star, top-20 prospect in this class.

In late August, Bossi got to watch Buzelis compete at the 2021 CrossRoads Elite Invitational in Andover, Kan. The 247Sports national analyst had this to say, in part, about the Syracuse basketball prospect’s performance at this event.

"“He spent long stretches as a primary ball-handler. He buried jumpers. He got out in transition and dunked on people and simply looked to be on another level from pretty much anybody else in attendance.”"