Syracuse Basketball: Predictions on the money for five-star Canadian wing

Talented Canadian wing Elijah Fisher, who was offered by Syracuse basketball nearly two years ago, is headed to the Big 12 Conference.

The 6-foot-7 shooting guard/small forward, a top-35 prospect in his class according to the bevy of recruiting services, has committed to Texas Tech, according to multiple media reports, including one from On3 national analyst Joe Tipton.

Leading up to Fisher’s commitment unveil, at least eight predictions had arrived in the direction of Texas Tech for Fisher between the 247Sports Web site and Rivals.com.

He had previously taken an official visit to the Red Raiders, and it’s not much of a surprise that Fisher is headed to Texas Tech. It’s also not a surprise at all that he isn’t coming to the Hill.

Syracuse basketball offered a scholarship to Elijah Fisher in July of 2020.

When the Orange first offered Fisher, a lot of ‘Cuse fans, myself included, thought that Syracuse basketball could prove a significant contender for him.

In recent years, the Orange has picked up multiple top-flight players who hail from Canada. Additionally, early on in his recruitment, Fisher spoke highly about the Syracuse basketball program in several interviews.

But as his recruiting process carried onward, I didn’t see many mentions of the ‘Cuse as it pertained to Fisher, who is rated as either four stars or five stars by the primary recruiting services.

What’s more, according to Tipton, Fisher has committed to Texas Tech as a member of the 2022 class after originally being a part of the 2023 cycle. Fisher, most recently, has competed for the Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, Ontario.

Throughout his recruitment, he received more than 20 offers from college squads such as Kentucky, Florida State, Arizona, Wake Forest, Seton Hall, Georgia Tech, St. John’s, West Virginia, Kansas, Southern California, Texas A&M, Florida, Vanderbilt, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Memphis.

Texas Tech is a really strong program that has gone on a couple of deep Big Dance runs of late, including a journey to the national-championship game in 2019, where it fell to Virginia in overtime. I have no doubt that Elijah Fisher will shine with the Red Raiders.

Given that he reclassified and moved up to 2022, it would have proven really unlikely for Syracuse basketball to land Fisher, since the Orange already has a half-dozen commits in this recruiting cycle.

In the 2023 class, the ‘Cuse continues to pursue a handful of prospects, such as four-star guard Elmarko Jackson, four-star shooting guard Reid Ducharme and four-star big man Joseph Estrella, among others.