Syracuse Basketball: In 2022, two top targets remain; SU good shot at both

The verbal pledge by 2022 big man Peter Carey to Syracuse basketball on Tuesday gives the Orange three commitments so far in this cycle.

While the ‘Cuse has scholarship offers out there to numerous other 2022 players, at this juncture it does seem that the Orange’s two top remaining targets in this class are four-star wing Chris Bunch and Central New York native J.J. Starling, a four-star combo guard.

We’ll have to see how everything shakes out in the recruitments of both Bunch and Starling over the next few weeks, however, I do believe that Syracuse basketball continues to be in strong contention for each 2022 prospect.

In the ‘Cuse 2022 cycle, Carey joins four-star wing Justin Taylor and four-star point guard Quadir Copeland, both of whom are top-100 prospects nationally in this class.

Syracuse basketball is in the hunt for two four-star players in the 2022 cycle.

Here’s the latest regarding Starling and Bunch. The 6-foot-4 Starling, a consensus top-40 prospect who is a senior at the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind., has five finalists in the ‘Cuse, Duke, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Stanford.

Starling recently took a second official visit to the Hill. Last weekend, he visited the Blue Devils. That he doesn’t commit on his official visit to Duke made me feel a bit better about the Orange’s chances.

The word is that Starling is eyeing a commitment sometime in October. And the buzz among some industry insiders is that this recruitment will come down to Syracuse basketball and Duke.

As we’ve noted, the Blue Devils of late have landed commitments from a 2022 four-star shooting guard, as well as 2023 five-star point guard. Could that influence Starling one way or another? We’ll see.

The 6-foot-7 Bunch, meanwhile, recently visited Mike Hopkins-led Washington. He made a trip to Rutgers over the summer. This past weekend, though, Bunch took his second official to the Orange, and his visit coincided with Carey’s official visit to Central New York.

Bunch, rated in the top-60 overall within the 2022 class by some recruiting Web sites, is a senior at the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah.

I always like to preface that I’m not a recruiting analyst, however, I think that Syracuse basketball could be viewed as a front-runner for Bunch, considering that he just visited the Hill for a second time. Washington could be the Orange’s biggest threat.

If you’re asking me for a prediction, call me crazy, but I think that the ‘Cuse is going to pick up both Bunch and Starling, although it wouldn’t surprise me if Starling does choose Duke.

If my prediction is correct, and it usually never is, then a Syracuse basketball 2022 class of Starling, Bunch, Carey, Taylor and Copeland would definitely contend for a top-10 national ranking across the country.