Sports Illustrated All-American has released its rankings of the top prospects around the country in the 2022 recruiting cycle, and a pair of Syracuse basketball four-star commits were included.
The piece from Sports Illustrated All-American says that these 99 seniors, in addition to five underclassmen, who are featured in the national ratings are deemed Sports Illustrated All-American candidates.
Sports Illustrated adds that the eventual SI All-American team and its Player of the Year will get named after the 2021-22 campaign wraps up.
Besides the Orange pledges, we’re going to take a look at several ‘Cuse five-star recruiting targets who also made the cut, as well as former prospects who opted for different college teams.
Let’s review those with Syracuse basketball connections who are part of the SI99.
First and foremost, Orange four-star commits Justin Taylor and Chris Bunch are included here, which is awesome.
Taylor, a shooting guard who attends the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., over the summer picked Syracuse basketball over North Carolina, Indiana, Virginia and Virginia Tech. He is ranked No. 68.
Checking in at No. 96 is Bunch, a small forward who is from the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah. In October, Bunch chose the ‘Cuse over other finalists Rutgers and Washington.
Two of the underclassmen who are Sports Illustrated All-American candidates include 2023 five-star point guard D.J. Wagner and 2023 five-star forward Kwame Evans Jr.
Wagner, offered by the Orange at the team’s annual Elite Camp this past August, is the No. 1 player in the 2023 cycle, according to other recruiting services. He attends Camden High School in Camden, N.J.
Evans, meanwhile, is ranked No. 2 across the country in the 2023 class, per other recruiting Web sites. He received a Syracuse basketball offer in October and goes to the Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla.
Additionally, those on the SI99 who were former ‘Cuse targets include No. 6 Kyle Filipowski (Duke), No. 13 Dior Johnson (Oregon), No. 23 Zion Cruz (undecided), No. 24 Jarace Walker (Houston), No. 25 J.J. Starling (Notre Dame), No. 34 Chance Westry (Auburn), No. 36 Kamari Lands (undecided), No. 51 Ty Rodgers (Illinois), No. 63 Donovan Clingan (UConn) and No. 67 Roddy Gayle Jr. (Ohio State).