For a while now, the Syracuse basketball five-member class in the 2022 cycle has hovered around the top-15 across the country.
But some of the primary recruiting services have refreshed their national rankings for high-school prospects in this class of late, and the Orange’s 2022 cycle has unfortunately taken a bit of a dive when compared to its peers nationwide.
At the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed the ‘Cuse 2022 class at No. 24 overall and No. 7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
When I penned this column, Rivals.com still had Syracuse basketball at No. 14 around the country in this cycle, but that recruiting service has yet to publish a new update of its 2022 national ratings.
The Syracuse basketball 2022 class is seeing its national rankings drop.
I don’t want to get too hung up on these sorts of recruiting rankings, because a highly rated class could end up a dud, and a cycle ranked much lower could prove stellar when all is said and done.
Still, because some of my fellow Orange fans like to read about recruiting rankings (at least I think they do!), I wanted to provide the latest on where the Syracuse basketball 2022 class stands on a national scale.
When this piece published, the 247Sports Composite rated ‘Cuse 2022 commits Chris Bunch and Justin Taylor as four stars, while fellow Orange signees Quadir Copeland, Maliq Brown and Peter Carey were three stars.
What surprised me a little bit is that, at present, only one Syracuse basketball 2022 commit is ranked in the top-100 overall, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Small forward Bunch, from the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, is No. 96 nationally. Shooting guard Taylor, who attends the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., is No. 108.
Taylor’s IMG Academy teammate, point guard Copeland, is No. 142. Power forward Brown, who is out of the Blue Ridge School in St. George, Va., and has played well during his senior term, is No. 235.
And power forward/center Carey, who per media reports is recovering from a knee injury, is No. 264. He most recently suited up for the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Mount Hermon, Mass.
Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim has gone on record in saying that the Orange’s 2022 class is “the best we’ve ever had,” although clearly the ‘Cuse has hauled in cycles that were ranked much, much higher.
Regardless, I’m still bullish on the team’s 2022 class. These prospects cover all five positions, and they should provide strong chemistry, given that some of them have already played together.
If the Orange’s 2022 cycle isn’t rated in the top 10, the top 15 or even the top 20, so be it. Let’s see how these guys fare once they’re actually donning a ‘Cuse uniform.