DeMatha 5-star who had Syracuse basketball interest reopens recruitment

Back in October of 2020, we penned a column on five-star prospect Tyrell Ward, who is now a senior standout for the legendary DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., and at one time or another garnered interest from Syracuse basketball coaches, according to media reports.

I never saw an official scholarship offer from the Orange to the 6-foot-7 Ward, but one report from 247Sports said he had taken an unofficial visit to the ‘Cuse, and Syracuse basketball coaches were watching him “closely.”

Ward is a 2022 small forward who is rated as four stars by most recruiting services, however, he is situated as a five-star player by Rivals.com. He is also a consensus top-45 prospect in this cycle, per the main recruiting services.

In July of last year, Ward committed to Xavier out of the Big East Conference. But the Musketeers recently had a head-coaching change, with Travis Steele out and Sean Miller in.

Media reports, including one from On3 national analyst Joe Tipton, say that Ward has de-committed from Xavier and will reopen his recruitment back up, although he did say that the Musketeers will remain an option.

Could the Orange show some interest in this stellar 2022 prospect? We’ll have to wait and see about that.

Syracuse basketball does have a five-member class in 2022.

Prior to committing to Xavier, Ward had released a top eight of Indiana, LSU, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Miami, Maryland, Georgetown and obviously the Musketeers.

During his recruitment, other teams that had previously offered him included Wake Forest, Seton Hall, Providence, Louisville and Virginia, according to recruiting services.

Following his de-commitment from Xavier, West Virginia has offered Ward, with those college teams reaching out to him including Virginia Tech, Georgetown, UCF, Tennessee, Providence, Pittsburgh and Louisville, according to tweets from recruiting guru Jake Weingarten, the founder of Stockrisers.com.

According to his bio on the MaxPreps Web site, during the 2021-22 campaign for DeMatha Catholic High School, Ward has averaged 19.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals per contest.

I could envision Virginia Tech being a formidable contender for Ward, whose DeMatha Catholic teammate, 2022 four-star combo guard Rodney Rice, is committed to the Hokies. Additionally, former DeMatha Catholic head coach Mike Jones is presently Virginia Tech’s associate head coach.

Given that Syracuse basketball already has two 2022 signees who can suit up at small forward, four-star Chris Bunch and four-star Justin Taylor (who may play more at shooting guard on the Hill), it’s probably unlikely that the Orange will make a run at Ward, who also might not have interest in the ‘Cuse at this juncture.

When I wrote about Ward in the fall of 2020, most recruiting services had him outside of the top-100 nationally in his class. These days, he’s rated as high as No. 26 across the country in the 2022 cycle, according to both Rivals.com and On3.

So if there was any possibility that Ward may have interest in Syracuse basketball, I sincerely hope that Orange coaches think about pursuing him.