Syracuse basketball 5-star target, 4-star CNY native score top state honors

A Syracuse basketball five-star recruiting target and several former Orange prospects are among those named the best players in their respective states for the 2021-22 campaign, according to a media report.

Jordan Divens, the national basketball editor for MaxPreps, has published an article where he anoints a player of the year in every state.

What’s also cool about this story is that Divens lists various statistics for these high-school prospects, giving us a more detailed sense of how they performed in 2021-22.

Some of the guys who we’re going to discuss here include D.J. Wagner, J.J. Starling, G.G. Jackson, Jarace Walker and Donovan Clingan, who all put forth exquisite 2021-22 stanzas.

Syracuse basketball, at one point or another, pursued all these stand-out prospects.

The 6-foot-3 Wagner is a 2023 five-star point guard who is rated the No. 1 overall player in his class according to numerous recruiting services. MaxPreps named him player of the year in New Jersey, as Wagner is a junior at Camden High School in Camden, N.J.

Orange coaches offered him a scholarship last August. Multiple national recruiting analysts believe that Wagner will end up choosing Kentucky.

He helped lead his high-school team to the final game of the Tournament of Champions event in New Jersey. In 2021-22, Wagner averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 3.3 assists per contest.

The 6-foot-4 Starling, a 2022 four-star guard and Central New York native, is the top player in Indiana. He’s had an awesome senior season at the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind., tallying 17.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game.

Starling had the ‘Cuse in his top five, along with Duke, Northwestern, Stanford and Notre Dame, and he ultimately committed to the Fighting Irish.

The 6-foot-8 Jackson is a 2023 five-star power forward who is ranked in the top-10 overall of the junior cycle by the majority of recruiting services. He is the player of the year in South Carolina.

A star for Ridge View High School in Columbia, S.C., Jackson landed a Syracuse basketball offer in August of 2020. He hasn’t yet announced a collegiate destination, although the ‘Cuse isn’t in the mix at this juncture.

According to Divens, Jackson averaged 22.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per encounter, and Ridge View High School claimed the Class 5A state title in South Carolina.

The 6-foot-8 Walker, a 2022 five-star power forward, is a senior at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. He held an Orange offer but has committed to Houston.

Walker is the co-player of the year in Florida, as he has collected 16.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and four assists per affair. The IMG Academy will compete in the upcoming 2022 GEICO Nationals, and so will the La Lumiere School.

Finally, the 7-foot-1 Clingan, a 2022 four-star center, is the player of the year in Connecticut. The senior at Bristol Central High School in Bristol, Conn., helped guide his squad to its first state championship dating back to 1990, per Divens.

On the year, Clingan generated 29.9 points, 18.1 rebounds, 6.1 blocks and 3.1 assists per meeting. He had Syracuse basketball in his top eight before selecting his home-state group, UConn.