Syracuse Basketball: 4-star commit, 5-star targets to collide at elite event

A new Syracuse basketball four-star commit and multiple five-star recruiting targets are expected to suit up in the nation’s premier hoops event.

According to an article from MaxPreps national basketball editor Jordan Divens, the 2022 Spalding Hoophall Classic will take place from January 13 to January 17 of next year at Springfield College in Springfield, Mass.

Divens writes that this annual event, now in its 20th iteration, is “annually the top showcase event in high school basketball with teams from coast to coast taking the floor.”

Among the elite teams scheduled to participate in the Spalding Hoophall Classic are the Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., Camden High School in Camden, N.J., the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C.

Let’s see which Syracuse basketball recruits are playing in the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

According to the schedule of games listed on the event’s Web site, the Wasatch Academy will duel with The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J., on Saturday, Jan. 15.

Chris Bunch, a 2022 four-star wing who recently committed to the Orange over other finalists Washington and Rutgers, is on the Wasatch Academy roster.

The Patrick School previously had among its players 2022 five-star combo guard Zion Cruz, who holds a ‘Cuse offer and recently reopened his recruitment back up. For his senior stanza, Cruz has transferred to the Donda Academy in Simi Valley, Calif.

Other schools suiting up on January 15 include the Montverde Academy, the IMG Academy and Camden High School. The Montverde Academy roster features 2023 five-star forward Kwame Evans Jr. and 2024 five-star power forward Derik Queen, both of whom recently landed Syracuse basketball offers.

A pair of Orange 2022 four-star commits, point guard Quadir Copeland and shooting guard Justin Taylor, play for the IMG Academy’s post-grad team, so I’m not sure if they will compete in the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

Camden High School is led by 2023 five-star point guard D.J. Wagner, the country’s No. 1 junior who was offered by the ‘Cuse in August at the Orange’s annual Elite Camp.

On Sunday, Jan. 16, the Wasatch Academy is back in action, as is St. John’s College High School, the home of 2024 four-star forward Donnie Freeman.

Freeman, a top-25 prospect in his cycle according to several recruiting services, was also offered by Syracuse basketball at the squad’s Elite Camp.

On Monday, Jan. 17, Camden High School will have another game, while the IMG Academy squares off with the Montverde Academy in a juicy match-up pitting two of the country’s elite prep-school teams against one another.