Syracuse Basketball: As Duke game nears, massive visit from 4-star guard

Syracuse basketball is set to host top-10 Duke this coming Saturday night, and this Atlantic Coast Conference clash is a monster encounter for a number of reasons.

For one, the Orange will have an opportunity to knock off one of the best squads in the country and pick up a quadrant-one victory. Secondly, the Blue Devils’ legendary head coach and Jim Boeheim’s dear friend, Mike Krzyzewski, will be guiding Duke for the final time at the Carrier Dome.

Krzyzewski, perhaps the greatest head coach in the history of college basketball, is retiring after the 2021-22 campaign. Last but certainly not least, this battle between Syracuse basketball and the Blue Devils coincides with a 2022 four-star guard taking an official visit to the Hill.

Top-35 prospect Judah Mintz will make a trip to Syracuse basketball.

According to various media reports, the 6-foot-3 Mintz is expected to visit the Orange on February 25-27. He has already made visits to DePaul and N.C. State, and Mintz reportedly will travel to Wake Forest on March 2-4.

A senior at the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., Mintz de-committed from fellow ACC group Pittsburgh last November and reopened his recruitment back up.

To date, I haven’t seen any predictions from national analysts or recruiting insiders as to a potential favorite or favorites for Mintz on either the 247Sports Web site or Rivals.com. Besides the four schools he is visiting, I have seen some chatter online that Xavier could be in the mix, too.

Syracuse basketball does have a solid five-member class in 2022, although possibly adding Mintz would be big-time for the Orange in this cycle. Hopefully, he has a great visit to the Hill, and the ‘Cuse fares well versus the Blue Devils.

Interestingly enough, just in the past few days, DePaul landed a commitment from 2022 four-star shooting guard Zion Cruz, according to college basketball insider Adam Zagoria.

The 6-foot-5 Cruz, a senior at the Donda Academy in Simi Valley, Calif., did hold a scholarship offer from the Orange. With Cruz heading to DePaul, maybe that could slightly decrease the competition for Syracuse basketball to prevail for Mintz.

According to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, at the time of this writing, Cruz was rated the No. 2 shooting guard in the 2022 class, while the composite ranked Mintz as the No. 9 combo guard.

The bevy of primary recruiting services have updated their 2022 national ratings of late, and ESPN put Mintz the highest, at No. 35 across the country and No. 7 at shooting guard.

The Orange’s 2022 class is hovering around the top-20 nationally, per some recruiting services, and Mintz could help move that ‘Cuse cycle into the top-10 to the top-15 overall.