Syracuse Basketball: Suitors for 5-star Zion Cruz include Mike Hopkins

Five-star combo guard Zion Cruz, an elite prospect in the 2022 recruiting cycle who holds a Syracuse basketball offer, recently said on social media that he would reopen his recruiting process back up.

And the number of contenders for the 6-foot-5 Cruz has apparently “received a quick and notable facelift,” according to a recent article from Rivals.com basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy.

Cruz was set to recently announce his commitment decision, with his three finalists being Atlantic Coast Conference member North Carolina, Southeastern Conference team Auburn and Big East Conference participant Creighton.

But Cruz elected to delay that announcement and, a few days later, said he would reopen his recruitment. For a while, Auburn has proven the speculated leader for Cruz.

In recent weeks and months, several national analysts and recruiting insiders on the 247Sports Web site and Rivals.com have logged predictions for Cruz, although I could see some of those projections changing in the near future.

Five-star guard Zion Cruz, with a Syracuse basketball offer, has many suitors.

"Cassidy had this to say about Cruz’s recruiting process of late. “These days, Illinois, Oklahoma, DePaul, Georgia and Washington are the schools to watch as it relates to Cruz. All have been in contact since the five-star reset his recruitment, but which program is most likely to actually land his pledge is unclear for the time being.”"

As we’ve discussed on a bunch of occasions, there hasn’t appeared to be any buzz between the Orange and Cruz for a while now, if ever.

I would love to see him end up at Washington, whose head coach is former long-time ‘Cuse assistant Mike Hopkins. The Huskies struggled a season ago, although Hopkins and his coaching staff have fared well on the recruiting trail.

Cruz, a consensus top-60 player in the 2022 cycle who is ranked in the top 20 by some recruiting services, is a senior at The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J.

He boasts 20-plus scholarship offers from a variety of high-major programs. Other offers that Cruz possesses are from Oregon, Arizona State, Florida State, Baylor, Ohio State, Iowa, Alabama, UCLA, Connecticut, Louisville, Maryland, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Indiana.

Besides Cruz, Hopkins & Co. recently offered 2022 four-star wing Chris Bunch, who is a high-priority target for Syracuse basketball in this class.

The 6-foot-7 Bunch, who like Cruz holds more than 20 scholarship offers, has transferred from De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., to the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, for his senior year.