Syracuse Basketball: Analyst predicts 5-star target will choose Kentucky

Justin Edwards, a 2023 five-star small forward from Philadelphia, picked up an offer from Syracuse basketball over the summer.

Since then the 6-foot-7 Edwards has continued to see his recruitment expand, with more big-time offers coming in as the elite 2023 wing also is rising up the national rankings for this cycle.

Edwards, a junior at the Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia, is ranked as high as No. 8 nationally, according to Rivals.com. Most recruiting services rate him as a five-star, top-20 player in the 2023 class.

Even though his recruiting process could have a way to go, Edwards already boasts a bunch of high-major offers, from teams such as LSU, Ohio State, Virginia, Connecticut, Maryland, Auburn, Miami, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Temple, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, Marquette, St. John’s, VCU, South Carolina and Tennessee.

One recruiting insider has made a projection for Syracuse basketball target Justin Edwards.

According to multiple national analysts as well as recent interviews given by Edwards, he is receiving significant interest from Kentucky, which is a blue-blood team and annually one of the best recruiting groups across the country.

Edwards is reportedly eyeing a visit to the Wildcats in the near future, and the buzz among recruiting insiders is that they expect Edwards to ultimately land an offer from Kentucky.

To that end, the Wildcats recently received a prediction for Edwards from Travis Graf on Rivals.com. I usually take these types of recruiting projections with a grain of salt, but it is interesting that Kentucky has potentially solid buzz with Edwards even though a formal scholarship offer hasn’t been made.

Former Big East Conference rival UConn is also a suitor for Edwards to absolutely keep an eye on. As we noted in a recent column, Edwards told Rivals.com basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy in an interview that he’s presently talking to the Huskies coaching staff more than any other contender.

In the recruiting world, Connecticut and the Orange have gone toe to toe on numerous occasions in recent years, with each squad winning out some. More recently, over the summer, Syracuse basketball 2022 high-priority target Donovan Clingan had the ‘Cuse in his top eight, but the four-star center opted for the Huskies.

Edwards is a supreme talent in the 2023 class. If I had to guess, he’s probably headed somewhere besides the Orange, given all of the recruiting heavyweights that are vying for him. Plus, whenever Kentucky is in the mix, that’s a tough obstacle for the Orange to overcome.