Syracuse Basketball: Orange 4-star commit being unranked is ridiculous

Two of the primary recruiting services, both of which recently refreshed their national rankings for the 2022 class, did not include Syracuse basketball four-star commit Quadir Copeland in their updated ratings.

I simply don’t get it.

These sorts of rankings are subjective, I acknowledge that. And these kinds of ratings don’t always tell the entire story about a particular high-school prospect.

So what that says to me is that even though the 6-foot-6 Copeland didn’t make the national cut, according to ESPN and 247Sports, he is still a really, really good player.

Copeland, a point guard who is rated in the top 100 by some recruiting services, gave a verbal commitment to the Orange in August after having the ‘Cuse among his eight finalists.

Syracuse basketball commit Quadir Copeland got hosed by several recruiting Web sites.

Syracuse basketball beat out Oklahoma State, Oregon, LaSalle, DePaul, Miami, Maryland and Penn State to win the recruiting battle over Copeland, who is suiting up in his senior season for the post-grad team at the powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Copeland transferred to the IMG Academy, one of the premier programs around the country, from the Life Center Academy in Burlington, N.J.

At the IMG Academy, one of his teammates on the post-grad squad is Copeland’s good friend, 2022 four-star wing Justin Taylor. In late June, Taylor picked the ‘Cuse over other finalists Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana and Virginia Tech.

Regarding Copeland, he did recently check in at No. 86 overall, and No. 18 at point guard, when Rivals.com updated its 2022 national rankings.

But even more recently, both 247Sports and ESPN refreshed their 2022 player ratings. ESPN listed its top-100 prospects, with Copeland nowhere to be found. That was lame.

Even worse, the 247Sports refresh included 150 players, and still Copeland didn’t get included. I’m the first to admit that I’m not a recruiting analyst, but I really can’t envision a scenario where Copeland isn’t one of the best 150 prospects nationwide in the 2022 cycle.

At his position, he did get some recognition from these two recruiting services, with ESPN arranging Copeland as the No. 20 point guard, and 247Sports saying he is the No. 30 combo guard.

For a little more context, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, which can fluctuate regularly, recently had Copeland as the No. 143 overall prospect in the 2022 class.

When he shines later this year for the IMG Academy, which offers him a huge national stage, I’m highly confident that Copeland will enter the top-100 rankings for this cycle. Even if, for now, he’s not getting the respect that he deserves.