Syracuse Basketball: 5-star target from Brewster ‘definitely an NBA player’

Syracuse basketball got into the mix for 2023 five-star guard/wing Matas Buzelis relatively early on in his recruitment, offering him a scholarship about a year ago.

More recently, a who’s who of college basketball has jumped into the recruiting fray for the 6-foot-10 Buzelis, who is a junior at the powerhouse Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H.

While the Orange has done well courting Brewster Academy players to the Hill in recent years, landing the consensus top-15 Buzelis will be an uphill battle.

His other suitors include Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State, North Carolina, Illinois, Florida, Purdue, Oklahoma, Arizona, UCLA, Maryland and Connecticut, among others.

Coaches and analysts rave about Syracuse basketball five-star target Matas Buzelis.

When Buzelis recently suited up at the 2021 National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Conn., he had coaches from Kentucky, Duke and Kansas, among others, in attendance to watch him, according to an article from college basketball insider Adam Zagoria.

“Matas is definitely an NBA player – could be like Doncic,” one high-major head coach said in the Zagoria piece, referring to Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic.

That’s some pretty hefty company for Buzelis, who is described by some recruiting Web sites as a forward, although he’s said in numerous interviews that he plays more like a point guard or shooting guard.

Given his height and length, I could only dream of Buzelis being situated at the top of the Syracuse basketball 2-3 zone. I should probably keep dreaming, though.

After impressive performances in various AAU events over the summer, Buzelis has emerged as one of the hottest prospects within the 2023 class.

His national rankings, as such, have skyrocketed. When 247Sports refreshed its 2023 ratings not too long ago, Buzelis soared into the top-five nationally.

Most recruiting services have him in the top-10 overall, and at the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite ranked Buzelis at No. 12 across the country in the 2023 cycle.

By extension, multiple national recruiting analysts have said of late that Buzelis will seriously contend for the No. 1 overall rating in this class. He’s simply that good.

As we’ve noted in other recent columns, Buzelis has taken trips to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference teams Florida State and Wake Forest.

According to Zagoria’s story, Buzelis does plan to make other visits, and on his list of those campuses that he would like to visit are Duke and Kentucky, among others.

I’m glad that Orange coaches offered Buzelis early on, but it will prove tough for the ‘Cuse to compete with those types of blue-blood programs.