Syracuse Basketball: In final ESPN 100, only one 2022 commit makes cut

ESPN has published its final set of 2022 player rankings of the top-100 prospects in this class, and Syracuse basketball signees didn’t get a ton of love in these ratings.

In all fairness, though, multiple Orange 2022 commits just missed the cut in the ESPN 100. And the team’s most recent commit, guard Judah Mintz, was highly placed by this recruiting service.

As I always like to say, recruiting rankings from ESPN and other services are good for context in stories, but the lack of inclusion for the ‘Cuse signees by ESPN doesn’t in any way signify that the Orange’s six-member 2022 class isn’t really, really good.

The 6-foot-3 Mintz, out of Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., chose Syracuse basketball over DePaul, Wake Forest and N.C. State at the end of March.

In ESPN’s 2022 rankings, Mintz checks in as four stars, No. 33 nationally and No. 7 at shooting guard. Let me repeat. The ‘Cuse has a top-10 shooting guard across the country within the squad’s 2022 cycle.

Let’s see where other Syracuse basketball 2022 commits are rated by ESPN.

For reference, the No. 100 prospect in ESPN’s ratings is given a scout grade of 82. Orange 2022 signees who also received a scout grade of 82 are small forward Chris Bunch, shooting guard/small forward Justin Taylor and point guard Quadir Copeland.

To me, that illustrates that these three ‘Cuse commits were pretty darn close to making the cut in the final ESPN 100 for the 2022 class.

The 6-foot-7 Bunch, out of the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, is four stars and No. 38 at small forward, according to ESPN.

The 6-foot-6 Taylor, with the post-grad team at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., is four stars and No. 29 at small forward.

Taylor’s teammate on the post-grad squad at the IMG Academy, the 6-foot-6 Copeland, is rated as four stars and No. 18 at point guard by ESPN.

The 6-foot-9 Maliq Brown, with Blue Ridge School in St. George, Va., arrives at three stars and No. 42 at power forward within the 2022 class.

Finally, 6-foot-11 big man Peter Carey is three stars and No. 52 at center, per ESPN. He most recently suited up for the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Mount Hermon, Mass.

Other recruiting services are expected to update and release their final 2022 player rankings in the near future, and we’ll of course track where the Syracuse basketball signees are situated.