For Syracuse basketball, recruiting battle looms with blue-blood for 5-stars

Syracuse basketball is not often on the same level as Kentucky as it pertains to recruiting, although I give the Orange tons of credit for hauling in a promising 2022 five-member class.

Given that highly rated 2022 cycle for the ‘Cuse, plus the fact that the Orange brought in a five-star commit during its 2021 cycle, and I’m optimistic that Syracuse basketball recruiting efforts are trending in a really positive direction.

Now, as we turn our attention to the 2023 class, the Orange coaching staff has offered scholarships to more than a dozen prospects, and several of them are among the elite juniors across the country.

Because these 2023 prospects are so highly ranked, they were always going to be courted by an abundance of high-major programs.

But of late, Kentucky has gotten into the recruiting fray for multiple Syracuse basketball five-star targets, and that will make things even more challenging as Orange coaches hope to pick up some top-flight 2023 players and keep their recruiting momentum going.

Syracuse basketball has an uphill climb to land various 2023 five-star recruits.

Just in the past week or so, Kentucky and its head coach, ace recruiter John Calipari, offered 2023 five-star small forward Justin Edwards, according to the player’s Twitter page.

The 6-foot-7 Edwards, out of the Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia, was offered by ‘Cuse coaches over the summer. At the time of this writing, one recruiting insider on Rivals.com had logged a projection for the top-10 Edwards in the direction of Kentucky.

Also not too long ago, the Wildcats offered 2023 five-star forward Kwame Evans Jr., who attends the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla.

Orange coaches offered the 6-foot-9 Evans in October. He is rated as the No. 2 overall prospect in this class by some recruiting services, and I would anticipate Kentucky being a major player in his recruitment.

The No. 1 prospect in 2023, five-star point guard D.J. Wagner, already has a bunch of predictions from national analysts and recruiting insiders on the 247Sports Web site and Rivals.com in the direction of these Wildcats.

The 6-foot-3 Wagner, from Camden High School in Camden, N.J., received an offer from Syracuse basketball this past August at the team’s annual Elite Camp.

Wagner’s dad, Dajuan Wagner, played for Calipari at Memphis for one season before going pro, and I would imagine that both the Wildcats and Tigers will be significant contenders for D.J. Wagner.

Last but certainly not least, the Orange got involved with stellar 2023 prospect Elijah Fisher relatively early on in his recruitment, offering him a scholarship back in the summer of 2020.

This past summer, though, Kentucky offered the 6-foot-7 wing as well. The five-star, top-20 Fisher attends the Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, Ontario.

At the time that I wrote this column, I hadn’t seen any analyst projections for Fisher, although his bio on the 247Sports Web site notes a “warm” interest level with Kentucky.