Syracuse Basketball: Big-man commit highly placed in these 2022 rankings

When talented 2022 big man Peter Carey gave his verbal commitment to Syracuse basketball not long after taking an official visit to the Hill, I felt extremely excited about this development.

Ever since the Orange got involved with the 7-foot power forward/center, I thought the ‘Cuse might have a good chance to get him, and I also believed that Carey would prove a strong fit within the Syracuse basketball system.

Yet, as often happens, a contingent of my fellow Orange fans groaned on social media and in chat rooms that Carey wasn’t nationally ranked by the majority of recruiting services.

I respect and understand this line of thinking. But I don’t agree with it. For one, the prep school where Carey is a senior, Northfield Mount Hermon School in Mount Hermon, Mass., didn’t compete last season due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. That meant he lost out on some opportunities, I would imagine, for scouts, recruiting analysts and others to evaluate his skill-set.

Syracuse basketball 2022 commit Peter Carey is an under-rated prospect.

From my perspective, assuming Carey shines in his senior stanza at the Northfield Mount Hermon School, I see no reason why he won’t evolve into a four-star, top-100 player throughout the country in the 2022 cycle, according to the bevy of recruiting Web sites.

But even now, Carey does possess some solid regional rankings that we’re going to examine. Per the New England Recruiting Report (newenglandrecruitingreport.com), Carey is ranked No. 14 in New England within the 2022 class, as well as No. 7 in Massachusetts for his cycle.

Those are pretty good ratings for Carey, in my humble opinion. Again, keeping in mind, that his prep-school team didn’t play any games during his junior term.

From some media reports that I’ve read about Carey, the ‘Cuse coaching staff thinks that he’s a hidden gem in the 2022 cycle who should see his stock soar this coming season.

Carey picked Syracuse basketball over a handful of other scholarship offers, from teams such as Rutgers, St. Bonaventure, Iona, UMass, Bryant, Brown and Albany.

Following his verbal pledge to the Orange, ESPN scout/recruiting analyst Adam Finkelstein had a lot of positive things to say about Carey’s game, which we noted in a column.

This is a really nice pick-up for the ‘Cuse, and I’m eager to watch Carey’s national rankings rise in the near future.