Syracuse basketball 5-star targets take center stage in epic national clash

Two of the country’s best high-school squads, each with Syracuse basketball recruiting targets on their rosters, will go toe to toe this week in what could amount to the game of the season so far in the 2021-22 campaign.

This Thursday, January 13, at the Metro Classic from the Cure Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J., Camden High School out of Camden, N.J., is slated to battle the Montverde Academy from Montverde, Fla.

Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 pm, according to the Metro Classic Web site. So far in 2021-22, Camden High School is deemed by some analysts as the No. 1 public high-school squad nationwide, or at a minimum in the top-five overall.

As for the Montverde Academy, it has proven the dominant independent basketball academy over the last few years, and numerous current national rankings place the Montverde Academy as a top-five group across the country.

Syracuse basketball five-star recruiting prospects are facing off this week.

One of the stars within the Camden High School line-up is 2023 five-star point guard D.J. Wagner, who is rated the No. 1 prospect in the junior class by the majority of recruiting services.

Wagner landed an offer from the Orange coaching staff during the team’s annual Elite Camp in August, although a lot of national analysts and recruiting insiders are projecting that Wagner will ultimately head to Kentucky.

The loaded Montverde Academy roster includes 2023 five-star forward Kwame Evans Jr. and 2024 five-star power forward Derik Queen.

Both Evans and Queen hail from Baltimore, were offered by the ‘Cuse last October, and are ranked in the top-five overall within their respective recruiting cycles.

We recently noted in a column that Evans has detailed the various college programs heavily involved in his recruitment, including Syracuse basketball.

In another juicy encounter at the Metro Classic, Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, N.J., will take on The Phelps School from Malvern, Pa., on January 13 beginning at 5:30 pm.

Late last year, Orange coaches offered a scholarship to 2024 five-star point guard Elliot Cadeau, who is a sophomore at Bergen Catholic High School.

Most recruiting services rate Cadeau as a top-10 national player in his class, and some recruiting Web sites also have him as the No. 1 point guard in the country within the 2024 cycle.