Syracuse Basketball: Kentucky hot on recruiting trail for 5-star target – yikes

Recruiting juggernaut Kentucky has offered a scholarship to a junior five-star prospect who holds a Syracuse basketball offer, and that will only make things more challenging for the Orange in trying to win out for this elite high-school player.

According to his bio on the 247Sports Web site, 2023 five-star guard/wing Matas Buzelis has picked up an offer from Kentucky out of the Southeastern Conference, a squad that annually contends for the No. 1 overall spot as far as teams’ recruiting rankings are concerned.

As we’ve noted of late, the 6-foot-10 Buzelis was scheduled to make an official visit to those Wildcats on December 21-22, according to media reports.

It’s not much of a surprise that Kentucky coaches have offered him. A recent tweet from Pro Insight director of scouting Andrew Slater noted that Buzelis has been hearing the most these days from Duke and Kentucky, and Buzelis already holds an offer from the Blue Devils.

Syracuse basketball faces big-time competition for five-star Matas Buzelis.

As Buzelis’ recruitment has expanded, his national rankings have soared. Many recruiting services have him in the top-five to the top-10 overall at this juncture, and some analysts view Buzelis as a serious contender for the No. 1 rating across the country in the 2023 cycle.

Besides the ‘Cuse, Duke and Kentucky, other college teams vying for Buzelis include Kansas, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State, North Carolina, Illinois, Florida, Purdue, Oklahoma, Arizona, UCLA, Maryland, Wake Forest and Connecticut, among others.

He previously took official visits to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference members Florida State and Wake Forest, per reports and recruiting services. I’ll be interested to see whether Buzelis ends up making a trip to Central New York to visit the Orange.

He is a junior at the powerhouse Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., which has sent numerous players to the Hill in recent seasons. In mid-September, Syracuse basketball coaches traveled to the Brewster Academy to visit with Buzelis and some of his prep-school teammates.

I’m not a recruiting analyst, nor am I in Buzelis’ inner circle. But at this point, given his offer sheet, I’d say it’s probably a long shot for the Orange to prevail in the recruiting sweepstakes over Buzelis.

I credit Syracuse basketball coaches for identifying Buzelis’ skill-set and talents early on in his recruitment, as the ‘Cuse offered him more than a year ago. However, with all the blue-bloods in pursuit, I wouldn’t be surprised if Buzelis decides on another school rather than Syracuse basketball.