Syracuse Basketball: 5-star targets prominent in ranking of top prospects

A new set of national rankings has come out that details some of the best non-seniors on the high-school circuit this coming season, and multiple Syracuse basketball five-star recruiting targets are featured in these ratings.

As the 2021-22 season gets underway for traditional high schools and prep schools, MaxPreps national basketball editor Jordan Divens has compiled a list of 20 of the top non-seniors across the country.

Included in the rankings are 2023 five-star Justin Edwards, 2023 five-star Kwame Evans Jr., 2024 five-star Derik Queen and 2023 five-star Simeon Wilcher.

Edwards, Evans and Queen are all current recruiting prospects of Orange coaches, at least as far as I can tell. The 6-foot-4 Wilcher, a combo guard out of Roselle Catholic High School in Roselle, N.J., appeared to be a top target for the ‘Cuse not too long ago, however, he has verbally committed to North Carolina.

Let’s get a closer look at these stellar Syracuse basketball recruits.

Orange coaches offered Edwards, a 6-foot-7 wing, over the summer. He attends Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia, and Edwards has recently entered into the top-10 overall within his class, according to some recruiting services.

He has a ton of high-major suitors, and media reports say that Edwards plans to take an official visit to Kentucky on November 18. I expect an offer from the Wildcats to Edwards on that trip, or soon thereafter.

Evans, a 6-foot-9 forward from Baltimore, competes for the juggernaut Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla. He picked up an offer from Syracuse basketball about a month ago.

Regarded by most recruiting services as the No. 2 national player in the 2023 cycle, Evans has more than 20 high-major offers, with one of the more recent ones arriving from Kentucky.

The 6-foot-8 Queen, an elite power forward in the 2024 class, also hails from Baltimore and secured a ‘Cuse offer around a month ago. Like Evans, he plays for the Montverde Academy.

So far, Queen is a consensus top-five prospect in his cycle, and he should seriously contend for the top spot in the 2024 class. College teams that have offered Queen include Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU and Arizona State.