For Syracuse basketball, 2022 class is a stellar foundation, analyst says

The Syracuse basketball five-member class in the 2022 recruiting cycle may not have a five-star, top-10 prospect within it, but the Orange does have five players who cover every position, and some of whom have already suited up together at the high-school level.

As such, I’ve opined that the ‘Cuse 2022 cycle is extremely well-balanced, and these prospects should boast a ton of strong chemistry together.

Plus, it’s not like these five 2022 commits aren’t any good. At present, small forward Chris Bunch, shooting guard Justin Taylor and point guard Quadir Copeland are all four stars according to at least one recruiting service.

Power forward Maliq Brown and power forward/center Peter Carey are both three stars for the time being, although I believe that both are vastly under-rated on a national scale in the 2022 class.

A national analyst has high praise for the Syracuse basketball 2022 cycle.

At the time of this writing, the Orange’s 2022 class was ranked No. 14 nationally and No. 4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference on the 247Sports Web site.

Rivals, on the other hand, rated this ‘Cuse cycle at No. 20 across the country, however, this recruiting service didn’t have Brown listed on the Orange’s page, which seems kind of strange.

In any event, Rivals.com national analyst Dan McDonald recently published an article where he looked at five teams with 2022 classes ranked outside the top 10, but that impress him.

McDonald said that these five 2022 classes, including Syracuse basketball, “should serve as great foundations for their programs.”

I like the sound of that, and I’ve felt for a while now that the Orange’s 2022 cycle can help set up the ‘Cuse for sustained success for the foreseeable future, because these five commits are likely to stick around for a couple of years (unless one or more of them hits the transfer portal or does leave early for a professional path).

"McDonald didn’t note Brown, but he still had some encouraging things to say about the Orange’s 2022 class. “Let’s start with what Jim Boeheim and his staff did at Syracuse. The Orange reeled in a trio of four-star prospects and a three-star center in Peter Carey with plenty of upside as a 7-footer to man the middle of the 2-3 zone. Chris Bunch fits the mold of combo forwards that have developed into good players for Boeheim, while Justin Taylor gives them a shooter to eventually replace Buddy Boeheim. Quadir Copeland’s size (6-foot-6) and playmaking ability should get him on the court early at Syracuse. His length at the front of the zone will be the best Syracuse has had since Michael Carter-Williams.”"

Taylor, by the way, is also 6-foot-6, so a combination of him and Copeland at the top of the team’s trademark 2-3 zone defense could prove really exceptional.