Syracuse Basketball: Fast-rising recruit crashes top 50, could reach 5 stars

If Syracuse basketball recruiting target Kaden Cooper was at all flying under the radar up until this point on a national scale, that is no longer the case.

The soaring 2023 wing, one of the hottest prospects in his class after tremendous performances at recent AAU events, received a scholarship offer from the Orange coaching staff at the end of April.

His list of offers has literally blown up, to the tune of at least two-dozen offers from a range of high-major programs, as well as serious interest from a bevy of big-time teams.

The 6-foot-6 guard/small forward caught fire in April when he played at an ultra-high level during NCAA live periods in front of college coaches and others on the grassroots-basketball circuit.

The rising senior at The Skill Factory in Atlanta suits up in AAU contests with the Oklahoma-based Team Trae Young in the Adidas league.

To say that Syracuse basketball faces stiff competition for Kaden Cooper is a huge understatement.

Okay, so 247Sports put out its updated national rankings of the top-150 players in the 2023 cycle just a few days ago. Cooper was easily one of the biggest risers in these new ratings, as 247Sports now has him as four stars, No. 49 overall, No. 8 at small forward and No. 5 in Georgia.

As far as I can tell, other primary recruiting Web sites like ESPN, On3 and Rivals.com don’t presently have Cooper in their 2023 national rankings, but trust me. That is going to change, sooner rather than later.

When I wrote this piece, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed Cooper as three stars, No. 156 across the country, No. 34 at small forward and No. 10 in Georgia.

As other individual recruiting services include him in their 2023 national rankings, Cooper’s ratings from the 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Consensus will jump much, much higher.

To date, his offers have arrived from teams such as Houston, Pittsburgh, TCU, Mississippi State, Xavier, Kansas, Illinois, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Creighton, LSU, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, St. John’s, Rutgers, DePaul, Oklahoma State, Omaha, Kent State, Oral Roberts, UNLV, Tulsa and SMU.

Kentucky, Gonzaga, Maryland, West Virginia, Oregon, Butler and Connecticut, among others, are reportedly showing interest in Cooper as well.

A recent article from On3 senior national recruiting analyst Gerry Hamilton suggested that Cooper is eyeing possible official visits to squads like Gonzaga, LSU, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

In a recent interview with Rivals.com basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy, Cooper mentioned that Kansas State is working to get him on campus for a visit as well.

"Adam Finkelstein, the director of scouting for 247Sports, recently said in part that Cooper has “already made massive strides within the last year and has a number of markers that all project out extremely well with an exceptionally long and athletic frame and rapidly improving shooting ability.”"