Syracuse Basketball: 4-star recruit Reid Ducharme ‘nationally underrated’

Four-star shooting guard Reid Ducharme, one of the top recruiting targets for Syracuse basketball coaches in the 2023 class, is planning to officially visit the Hill in the not-too-distant future.

If official visits are any indication of which teams he may have the most interest in, then the Orange seems to be in a good spot with the 6-foot-6 Ducharme, who is heading into his senior season at the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H.

Ducharme, in several recent interviews with national analysts, has spoken highly of the ‘Cuse program and its coaching staff. Syracuse basketball assistant coach Gerry McNamara has been in regular communication with Ducharme for a while now.

But Ducharme has a bunch of scholarship offers, and two of the Orange’s most formidable competitors in his recruitment appear to be Penn State and Xavier.

Syracuse basketball should make the final cut for four-star Reid Ducharme.

Ducharme is expected to make a trip to Central New York from June 14 to June 16.

Per a report from 247Sports national analyst Travis Branham, Ducharme will travel to Penn State from June 20 to June 22, and he’s also working on mapping out an official visit to Xavier.

Based on multiple reports that I’ve read over the months on Reid Ducharme, the coaching staff at Penn State is prioritizing him just as the ‘Cuse is.

Xavier, meanwhile, now has Sean Miller as its head coach for the second time, after he spent numerous recent seasons leading Arizona.

Last August, Syracuse basketball offered Ducharme at the team’s annual Elite Camp. His other offers include from Xavier, Rhode Island, Northwestern, Columbia, Connecticut, Iowa, Providence, Penn State, Creighton, DePaul, Stanford, Harvard, Brown and UMass.

Ducharme told Branham that he will likely trim down his list of contenders at some point, and personally, I’d be surprised if the Orange didn’t make the cut.

As far as a commitment timeline, Ducharme said in the 247Sports article that he would like to make a college decision “before the start of next season in the fall.”

Regarding his relationship with Syracuse basketball, Ducharme said to Branham, “I have been talking to G-Mac (Gerry McNamara) since the beginning of last year. (Head coach Jim) Boeheim is a legendary coach so it’s hard not to go wrong with them.”

During the AAU circuit so far this spring, Ducharme has put forth some strong performances for the Boston Amateur Basketball Club in Nike’s EYBL league.

The industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Consensus both rate Ducharme as a top-100 player in 2023. The same goes for On3 (No. 60) and ESPN (No. 84).

Respected analyst Adam Finkelstein, the director of scouting for 247Sports, had this to say about Reid Ducharme in a recent tweet. “Nationally underrated. Can’t teach toughness and desire.”

I for one hope that Ducharme, a top-20 shooting guard/small forward nationally in his class, ultimately chooses the ‘Cuse.