Not looking like Syracuse basketball will prevail for 4-star Oak Hill guard

If the recent predictions from a couple of recruiting analysts hold steady, it doesn’t appear that Syracuse basketball will win out in the battle over 2022 four-star guard Judah Mintz.

Now, I think it’s important to note here that the recruitments of high-school players can be fluid, with one suitor being anointed the leader, and then another contender swoops in and ends up the victor.

I’ve seen it happen for the Orange, with experts projecting the ‘Cuse to land a top-flight player, with another squad, say Connecticut or Duke or Kentucky, ultimately hearing its name called when a commitment announcement is made.

Plus, these sorts of projections from national analysts and other recruiting insiders can be, I would imagine, considered in some part speculation.

Then again, I’m not a recruiting analyst myself, and I’m not in Mintz’s inner circle, so I honestly do not know which of his suitors is going to pick up this elite prospect, who is rated as high as No. 35 overall in the 2022 cycle, according to ESPN.

Another analyst has made a prediction for Syracuse basketball target Judah Mintz.

In February and March, Mintz took official visits to the Hill, DePaul, Wake Forest and N.C. State. We’ve already documented how at least two projections recently came in on the 247Sports Web site for Mintz in the direction of Big East Conference member DePaul, which also recently scored a big recruiting triumph in securing 2022 four-star guard Zion Cruz out of the Donda Academy in Simi Valley, Calif.

Make that a third for Blue Demons. On3 national analyst Jamie Shaw, who I think is one of the best in the business, has forecast Mintz to DePaul, while giving his prediction a confidence level of 75 percent.

Does this mean Mintz is definitely going to choose DePaul, thereby breaking the hearts of Syracuse basketball fans? Like I said earlier, these recruiting processes can ebb and flow, but with those three projections, along with a recent tweet from Pro Insight director of scouting Andrew Slater, it would seem that DePaul is in strong shape with the senior who suits up at the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.

As I wrote in a recent piece, and Shaw mentioned this as well in a story, there are some nice Washington, D.C., area connections among Mintz, Orange freshman forward Benny Williams, several ‘Cuse signees in the 2022 class, and Syracuse basketball associate head coach Adrian Autry.

Mintz has said more than once that he is eyeing a commitment announcement around the time of the 2022 GEICO Nationals, an eight-team tournament that includes the Oak Hill Academy and will take place from March 31 through April 2 at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.

I don’t think that the Orange is going to win out for Mintz, who previously was committed to Pittsburgh, but that’s merely my opinion. I’m just a ‘Cuse fan. We’ll of course continue to monitor Mintz’s recruitment over the next two weeks or so.