Syracuse Basketball: D.C. ties could be big in battle over a top 2022 target

Syracuse basketball 2022 high-priority target Judah Mintz, a four-star guard in this cycle, is reportedly going to announce his college destination in the next few weeks.

Not too long ago, he took an official visit to the Hill, and media reports seem to suggest that he spent time with Orange commits in the 2022 class who also traveled to Central New York when the ‘Cuse hosted a top-10 Duke squad.

According to reports, Mintz’s trip to Syracuse basketball went well. He spent time with three of the Orange’s 2022 commits, four-star shooting guard Justin Taylor, three-star big man Peter Carey and four-star small forward Chris Bunch, who were also in attendance when the ‘Cuse got crushed by the Blue Devils at the Carrier Dome.

I also read some reports that while on his official visit to the Hill, Mintz spoke with Syracuse basketball freshman forward Benny Williams.

The recruitment of Judah Mintz could come down to Syracuse basketball and a former Big East Conference foe.

Now, I’m not a recruiting analyst, nor am I in Mintz’s inner circle, so I don’t know how his recruitment is going to play out. As we noted in a column not too long ago, several experts have logged predictions for Mintz in the direction of Big East squad DePaul, which recently scored a massive recruiting win when it landed 2022 four-star guard Zion Cruz out of the Donda Academy in Simi Valley, Calif.

Additionally, a recent tweet from Pro Insight director of scouting Andrew Slater points to DePaul potentially being the favorite in Mintz’s recruiting process. That being said, these recruitments are often fluid, so I wouldn’t count out the ‘Cuse just yet.

Besides DePaul and Syracuse basketball, Mintz, a former Pittsburgh commit, has recently visited N.C. State and Wake Forest. The 6-foot-3 Mintz attends the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., and he has put forth a stellar senior season.

What I will say here is that I’m hopeful all of the Washington, D.C., area ties surrounding the Orange will help the ‘Cuse prevail in the sweepstakes over Mintz.

Exactly what do I mean by that? Well, Mintz is from Fort Washington, Md. Williams is from Bowie, Md. Taylor is from Charlottesville, Va., but he along with Mintz and Williams all have competed for the D.C.-based Team Takeover on the AAU circuit in the past.

Another Syracuse basketball 2022 commit, three-star power forward Maliq Brown, plays prep-school ball in St. George, Va., but has been friends with Taylor for years.

Taylor and the fifth 2022 commit for the Orange, four-star point guard Quadir Copeland, have suited up during the 2021-22 stanza for the post-grad team at the juggernaut IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

My point in providing this context is that I believe there’s strong chemistry within the ‘Cuse 2022 class, and these incoming freshmen haven’t even arrived on the Hill yet.

Also, it’s important to note that Syracuse basketball associate head coach Adrian Autry, years ago, was a prep-school and AAU coach in the Washington metropolitan region.

Maybe all of these existing friendships and D.C.-area ties are appealing to Mintz. We’ll have to wait and find out.