Syracuse Basketball: Duke lands 4-star; could it help SU with J.J. Starling?

To date, I haven’t seen any predictions from national analysts and other recruiting insiders as it pertains to the future collegiate home of Syracuse basketball high-priority target J.J. Starling.

That being said, some comments from recruiting experts in recent months have suggested that teams including the Orange, Duke and Stanford could be in a solid position with the Central New York native, a 2022 four-star combo guard.

As we detailed in a recent column, the 6-foot-3 guard has scheduled multiple officials in September. Starling has already been to Notre Dame, and after that are trips to the Hill, Northwestern and Duke. This will be his second official visit to Central New York.

Given the Blue Devils’ prowess on the recruiting trail, both historically and within its 2022 class, I’ve kind of figured that Duke could emerge as a front-runner for Starling. I’m not a recruiting analyst, so this is simply my gut feeling.

However, a new addition to the Blue Devils’ 2022 cycle, hopefully, could potentially improve the Orange’s chances with Starling. We’ll have to watch how his recruiting process plays out.

Syracuse basketball could find itself in a recruiting bout with Duke over J.J. Starling.

A couple of days ago, 2022 four-star shooting guard Jaden Schutt said on social media that he had verbally committed to the Blue Devils.

The 6-foot-5 Schutt is a consensus four-star prospect in this class. Ranked as high as No. 47 nationally by ESPN, he attends the Yorkville Christian High School in Yorkville, Ill.

Now, a couple of things to discuss here. Schutt is a shooting guard. Starling is more of a combo guard. From what I’ve read, Starling is reportedly being recruited by the ‘Cuse coaching staff as a point guard and a shooting guard.

In all honesty, I’m not sure what position or positions Duke coaches are recruiting Starling for within their 2022 cycle. If the Blue Devils are targeting him as more of a point guard, then Schutt’s commitment to Duke may not have much of an influence on Starling’s decision.

By extension, Syracuse basketball has verbal commitments from a 2022 four-star point guard, Quadir Copeland, and a 2022 four-star wing, Justin Taylor, who I believe has been recruited by the Orange primarily as a shooting guard, rather than a small forward.

So, in all fairness, there is positional overlap between Starling and 2022 commits already in place at both the ‘Cuse and Duke. From my perspective, it’s really which school is making Starling a top priority, and his list of suitors goes beyond the Orange and the Blue Devils.

For more than two years, though, Syracuse basketball coaches have recruited and prioritized Starling, who is entering his senior year at the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind.

My fingers are crossed that, in the end, the ‘Cuse will prevail in this exciting recruiting battle over a consensus top-40 prospect in the 2022 class.