Syracuse Basketball: 4-star, 5-star Brewster targets dominate new rankings

A new set of rankings for 2023 high-school players in the New England region recently got unveiled, and a whole lot of Syracuse basketball targets from the Brewster Academy and other prep schools are included.

In taking a look at the New England Recruiting Report’s ratings of the top-10 prospects from that region in the 2023 cycle, it appears that at least six of these high-school juniors have a connection to the Orange, whether it be a formal scholarship offer or the ‘Cuse displaying interest in them. Let’s examine the list.

Checking in at No. 1 is five-star Matas Buzelis, a 6-foot-10 guard/wing out of the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., who recently entered the top-10 nationally in this class, according to ESPN.

Syracuse basketball offered Buzelis nearly a year ago, and his stock has absolutely blown up of late. As we noted in a column not too long ago, all of the blue-blood programs and many other recruiting heavyweights at the collegiate level are pursuing Buzelis.

See where other Syracuse basketball prospects are rated in New England.

The No. 2 player on this list is one of Buzelis’ teammates at the Brewster Academy, five-star wing Taylor Bowen. The 6-foot-8 Bowen, a consensus top-30 prospect, recently landed an offer from Kansas, with many others courting him.

I’m not aware of a scholarship offer by the Orange to Bowen as of yet, but the ‘Cuse is displaying interest. Several recent media reports said that Bowen hears the most from Kansas, Kentucky, Connecticut and Arkansas.

Fast-rising Gavin Griffiths is No. 4 in these ratings. The 6-foot-7 Griffiths, a four-star wing, attends the Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, Conn.

He received an Orange offer about a year ago and has said in interviews that he would like to visit the Hill this fall, which is encouraging.

Three-star big man Papa Kante, out of the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn., is No. 6. The 6-foot-10 power forward/center, a top-125 national prospect, was offered by Syracuse basketball in August at the team’s annual Elite Camp.

Kante, who played quite well on the grassroots basketball circuit this past summer, has numerous offers, with some of the more recent ones coming from Kansas, Providence, Georgetown and Miami, among others.

Four-star combo guard Reid Ducharme, who also goes to Brewster Academy, is No. 7. The 6-foot-6 Ducharme picked up an offer from the ‘Cuse at the squad’s Elite Camp in August.

Other college groups that have offered him include Connecticut, Providence, Stanford, Iowa, UMass, DePaul, Harvard and Brown.

Another recipient of an Orange offer at the Elite Camp, big man Joseph Estrella, is No. 10 in the New England rankings. The 6-foot-10 power forward is out of South Portland High School in South Portland, Maine.