Syracuse Basketball: Recruiting juggernaut in fray for 5-star Zion Cruz

The recruiting process of 2022 five-star combo guard Zion Cruz, who holds a Syracuse basketball offer, continues onward with new suitors emerging after the elite prospect recently reopened his recruitment back up.

One of the latest scholarship offers to arrive for the consensus top-60 prospect, who is ranked in the top-20 overall in this cycle by some recruiting services, is from recruiting heavyweight Memphis.

That’s according to college basketball insider Adam Zagoria, who said in a tweet that Memphis not only offered Cruz, but also that he is eyeing a visit to this college campus in the near future.

The Tigers, a member of the American Athletic Conference, have absolutely crushed it on the recruiting trail of late, led by their master recruiter, head coach and former NBA star Penny Hardaway.

Five-star Zion Cruz, who has a Syracuse basketball offer, is gaining big-time suitors.

Just in the past two months, for example, Memphis secured pledges from a pair of 2021 five-star prospects in center Jalen Duren and wing Emoni Bates.

Both Duren and Bates are rated as top-five players nationwide in this recruiting cycle, and Memphis landing each of them is just another indication that the Tigers are one of the best college teams out there in terms of recruiting.

The reason I am providing such context here is that I believe Hardaway & Co. could become a significant threat to win out for Cruz, who is a senior at The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J.

Not too long ago, Cruz was planning to make a commitment announcement, with his three finalists being Atlantic Coast Conference member North Carolina, Southeastern Conference team Auburn and Big East Conference participant Creighton.

For a while, Auburn was the rumored front-runner for Cruz, based on a handful of national analysts and recruiting insiders on the 247Sports Web site and Rivals.com predicting that he would choose the Tigers. The Tar Heels had scored some projections as well. Memphis is now getting some love on Rivals.com, too.

However, Cruz delayed his commitment announcement and then said a few days later on Instagram that he would reopen his recruitment back up.

As we noted in a column, Rivals.com basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy mentioned a couple of teams to watch as it pertains to Cruz, and they were Mike Hopkins-led Washington, along with Illinois, Oklahoma, DePaul and Georgia.

We’ll add in Memphis now, too. Syracuse basketball offered Cruz more than two years ago, but I don’t get the feeling that Orange coaches are pursuing him at this juncture.

He owns more than 20 offers in total. Besides the Orange and others already noted, squads that have offered him in the past include Oregon, Arizona State, Florida State, Baylor, Ohio State, Iowa, Alabama, UCLA, Connecticut, Louisville, Maryland, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Indiana.