Syracuse Basketball: Judah Mintz ranked higher than Orange de-commits

Syracuse basketball has a strong six-member 2022 class, headlined by the recent commitment of four-star Judah Mintz, a senior at the Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., who is a top-10 guard across the country, according to several of the primary recruiting services.

Yet even with this Orange 2022 cycle rated in the top-10 nationally at the moment, per Rivals.com, I still saw one of my fellow ‘Cuse fans chime in the other day on social media that Syracuse basketball coaches stink at recruiting, because they missed out on so many 2022 recruiting targets and saw two guys in this class de-commit from the Orange.

Okay, so I acknowledge that the Orange saw some of its so-called high-priority targets in 2022 head elsewhere, which is what often happens to the ‘Cuse and virtually every other program out there not named Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Gonzaga, etc.

But to continue to complain about the Orange’s 2022 class, even after the top-35 Mintz came aboard at the end of March? I guess some people are never fully satisfied.

Consider this, though, about a new national ranking for Syracuse basketball signee Judah Mintz.

ESPN recently published its final 2022 player ratings of the top-100 prospects in this cycle, and at least according to this recruiting service, Mintz is ranked higher than two former Orange commits who ultimately de-committed and chose other college squads.

Naturally, those two high-school players whom I’m referring to are point guard Dior Johnson, who is committed to Oregon, and wing Kamari Lands, who is committed to Louisville.

Per ESPN’s new rankings, Mintz checks in at No. 33, Johnson is No. 35 and Lands is No. 39.

Now, I fully acknowledge that Mintz is a combo guard, Johnson is a point guard and Lands is generally regarded by recruiting Web sites as a small forward. So their positions aren’t an apples-to-apples comparison.

What’s more, Judah Mintz isn’t ranked higher than both Johnson and Lands via all of the main recruiting services.

I get all that. My point here, however, is that after Johnson and Lands de-committed, some of my fellow ‘Cuse fans bemoaned losing these guys, because they were flagship prospects who could anchor the Syracuse basketball 2022 class.

And then some of these very same Orange fans elected to opine that the team’s 2022 cycle wouldn’t end up being all that good, in large part because Johnson and Lands weren’t around any longer.

So no disrespect to Johnson or Lands, both of whom are exquisite talents, but Mintz, to me, is equally as excellent. ESPN, I believe, backs up my opinion here.

And despite those two de-commitments, and the various recruiting misses, Syracuse basketball has a flagship 2022 prospect in Judah Mintz, and a six-member class in this cycle that is contending for top-10 status on a national scale.