Two new Syracuse basketball recruiting targets from New York City who recently landed scholarship offers from the Orange put forth some massive performances this past weekend on the AAU circuit during an NCAA live period.
Just in the past week or so, both 2024 five-star guard Ian Jackson and talented 2024 shooting guard Elijah Moore were offered by the ‘Cuse, according to media reports.
The 6-foot-6 Jackson and the 6-foot-4 Moore know each other well. Each of them suits up for Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, N.Y., which was a top-10 squad during the 2021-22 stanza, as well as for the Bronx, N.Y.-based Wiz Kids, which plays on the Adidas circuit.
Over the weekend, the various shoe-sponsored AAU leagues held games around the country in a live period when college coaches and others could watch high-school prospects in person.
Per reports, Jackson and Moore shined for the Wiz Kids, earning praise from a variety of national recruiting analysts and scouts.
Let’s look at some performances by a pair of new Syracuse basketball 2024 targets.
As we’ve already noted, Jackson and Moore were huge factors in leading Cardinal Hayes High School to a 26-3 record in 2021-22, along with a New York state Catholic High School Athletic Association (“CHSAA”) Class AA championship.
Jackson, in fact, was recently named the national sophomore of the year for the 2021-22 campaign, according to MaxPreps.
I haven’t been able to find comprehensive box scores for games played this past weekend on the Adidas tour, but high-school hoops analyst and scout Samad Hines did say in a tweet that Jackson tallied 26 points in one contest on 55 percent shooting from the field.
2024 SG Ian Jackson (@22_captainjack) — arguably the No. 1 prospect in the class — with 26 points 55% FG despite the loss in his #3SSB Spartanburg debut.
— Samad Hines (@Samad_Hines) April 23, 2022
Scored from all levels, shows he can do more than just score, and a couple athletic plays tonight. Very special @wizkidsaau.
I perused at least two articles from experts on the 247Sports Web site in which analysts had a ton of positive things to say about Jackson’s performances during this latest live period.
Separately, Hines tweeted out that Moore hit on a ridiculous nine 3-pointers and registered a total of 33 points in one encounter. Hines calls Moore one of the best shooters in the 2024 class, as well as a “sleeper” prospect coming into the grassroots basketball season over the spring and summer months.
2024 SG Elijah Moore — of Cardinal Hayes (NY) — was just on fire in a win this morning with 33 points hitting NINE 3PTs. One my sleeper prospects coming into this grassroots season.
— Samad Hines (@Samad_Hines) April 24, 2022
Syracuse the most recent offer — one of the best shooters already in the class @wizkidsaau.
A serious contender for the No. 1 overall ranking in the 2024 cycle, Jackson holds other offers from teams like Kansas, UCLA, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Oklahoma State, UConn, Nebraska, Kansas State and Bryant.
Duke, Kentucky, Florida State, Virginia, Oregon and Tennessee, among others, are also reportedly showing interest in Jackson, who is rated the No. 2 overall prospect in 2024, per multiple recruiting services.
As for Moore, his recruitment is just starting to take off, and his offer from the ‘Cuse coaching staff would seem to indicate that his offer sheet is going to expand by leaps and bounds on a national basis in the near future.
To date, he has other early offers from squads including Saint Peter’s, Temple and Fordham. But as Moore stars on the AAU circuit and likely enters the 2024 national ratings, other heavyweight programs I would assume will start recruiting him.