Syracuse Basketball: 5-star recruits serious contenders for No. 1 ranking

Syracuse basketball coaches have offered scholarships to, or shown interest in, a handful of high-school prospects in the 2024 cycle, according to media reports and recruiting services.

These players are wrapping up their sophomore years of high school or prep school, and they’ll soon enter the spring and summer AAU circuits before preparing for their junior seasons.

A recent tweet from high-school hoops analyst and scout Samad Hines mentioned numerous 2024 prospects who could be in the running for the No. 1 position in this class, and that got me thinking about this topic as it relates to Orange recruiting targets.

Syracuse basketball is pursuing a range of highly rated 2024 players.

In examining Hines’ tweet as well as the latest national rankings for this cycle from various recruiting services, I get the sense that the ‘Cuse 2024 recruiting prospects who may be legit contenders for the No. 1 spot include point guard Elliot Cadeau, power forward Derik Queen, wing Ian Jackson and wing Vyctorius Miller.

As far as I can tell, they are all five-star prospects in the 2024 class, and each of them is ranked in the top-10 overall within this cycle, according to some of the main recruiting services.

The 6-foot-1 Cadeau, who attends Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, N.J., received an offer from the Orange last November. His other offers include from Seton Hall, Providence, St. John’s, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, TCU, UMass, Howard and Siena.

Several recruiting services rank Cadeau as the No. 1 point guard across the country in the 2024 class. He has said on more than one occasion in interviews that the ‘Cuse coaching staff is in regular communication with him.

The 6-foot-8 Queen, who hails from Baltimore, is out of the Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla. Syracuse basketball coaches offered him this past October.

Queen’s offer list includes college squads such as Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU, Arizona State and Xavier.

Orange coaches have reportedly taken a look at the 6-foot-6 Jackson, who is a standout for Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, N.Y. That being said, I haven’t seen anything to date about a formal offer by the ‘Cuse to Jackson, who is rated No. 2 nationally in the 2024 cycle by some recruiting services.

As we’ve noted in the past, Jackson holds offers from teams like St. John’s, Seton Hall, Oklahoma State, UConn, Nebraska, Kansas State and Bryant, and he is reportedly receiving interest from Kentucky, Duke and Florida State.

Per media reports, Syracuse basketball has also displayed interest in the 6-foot-5 Miller, who suits up for Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine, Calif.

His offer sheet features groups such as UCLA, Kansas, Arizona, Arizona State, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest and Ole Miss. Additionally, the Orange and Oregon are among the teams reportedly showing interest in Miller.