In mid-June, Syracuse basketball coaches and their peers around the country will be able to start making direct contact with high-school players in the 2024 recruiting cycle.
Once college coaches are allowed to initiate direct communication with prospects in the rising junior class, that could lead to an abundance of scholarship offers getting doled out.
It doesn’t necessarily mean the Orange will open the floodgates in terms of new offers, though. For one, the ‘Cuse is usually pretty selective with the number of offers that it pledges to high-school players.
Secondly, Syracuse basketball coaches have already offered, by my count, a total of eight guys in the 2024 class, according to recruiting services, media reports, comments from national analysts, and players’ social-media accounts.
Additionally, at one time or another, the Orange appears to have shown interest in another half-dozen or so prospects in this cycle.
Once that June 15 deadline comes and goes, we’ll certainly keep a close eye on any new offers made by Syracuse basketball to 2024 players.
And I’ll definitely monitor whether the Orange’s already reported interest in six prospects within this class turns into formal offers.
Here’s a rundown of the 2024 players who have garnered some level of interest from the ‘Cuse, per reports and recruiting services.
•One talented prospect is four-star point guard Curtis Givens III. The 6-foot-3 Givens recently said that he would transfer from the Memphis University School in Memphis, Tenn., to the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla.
•We detailed not too long ago that the Orange is taking a look at stellar Canadian guard Keenan Emmanuel. The 6-foot-2 Emmanuel, most recently, has suited up for the Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, Conn.
•Five-star shooting guard/small forward Vyctorius Miller has received interest from Syracuse basketball, and I hope that results in an offer at some point. The 6-foot-5 Miller is moving from Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine, Calif., to the mighty AZ Compass Prep School in Chandler, Ariz.
•Underrated three-star guard Kayvaun Mulready has also reportedly gotten interest from the ‘Cuse. The 6-foot-4 Mulready, out of the Worcester Academy in Worcester, Mass., has been lights-out on the spring AAU circuit of late for the Albany City Rocks.
•Syracuse basketball coaches are in pursuit of five-star guard/small forward Trentyn Flowers, he recently said in an interview. Let’s see if the Orange offers the 6-foot-8 Flowers, who plays for the Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, Calif.
•We’ve noted a couple of times that the ‘Cuse may have interest in four-star big man Caleb Middleton, a 6-foot-10 power forward/center with the Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio.
With Syracuse basketball coaches able to make direct contact with 2024 players in the near future, I expect the Orange to ramp up its recruitment of various top-flight prospects who have been offered by the team. Additionally, let’s see if some or all of these targets wind up taking visits to the ‘Cuse.
Let’s review the players who could prove key 2024 targets for Syracuse basketball.
Elliot Cadeau
Five-star Elliot Cadeau is rated the No. 1 point guard across the country in 2024 by some recruiting services. He’s also a top-10 overall player.
The Orange offered the 6-foot-1 Cadeau in November of 2021, getting involved in his recruitment early on.
Multiple reports of late have suggested that the ‘Cuse, Texas Tech and Tennessee have been recruiting him the hardest, at least for the time being.
To that end, Cadeau does have a visit to Texas Tech lined up for the weekend of September 24, according to college basketball insider Adam Zagoria.
I don’t have any inside information here, but I feel pretty good about the Orange’s chances of getting an official visit from Cadeau in the future.
Besides this trio of college squads, others that have offered him include Maryland, Seton Hall, Providence, St. John’s, Oklahoma State, TCU, UMass, Howard and Siena.
Cadeau attends Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, N.J. As we recently discussed, he has put forth some really strong performances lately on the AAU circuit for the New York City-based New Heights Lightning in Nike’s EYBL league.
His AAU squad, by the way, is among the top-rated teams in grassroots basketball so far this spring, according to some experts, who note that Cadeau was a star player at the recent EYBL session held over the Memorial Day weekend in Louisville, Ky.
Cadeau not only has the ability to score points at a high clip, but he’s also a terrific facilitator for his teammates. He has a strong court vision and overall basketball IQ.
Additionally, Cadeau rebounds well for a player at his position, he’s a really good defender, and he makes hustle plays, numerous national analysts and scouts have said.
Once college coaches can start reaching out to him directly, I fully anticipate that Cadeau’s offer sheet will greatly expand. Let’s see if the ‘Cuse can get him on the Hill for an official visit, sooner rather than later.
Donnie Freeman
Five-star power forward Donnie Freeman has the distinction of being the first 2024 player to land a scholarship offer from Syracuse basketball coaches.
That offer came this past August at the Orange’s annual Elite Camp. At this event, the ‘Cuse pledged offers to a handful of 2023 prospects, as well as one player in 2024, and that was Freeman.
Several recent reports have spoken to the Orange coaching staff making him a priority target for the ‘Cuse in the 2024 class. As such, once June 15 is upon us, I’m sure that Syracuse basketball will be in consistent communication with the 6-foot-9 Freeman.
He is a highly rated guy in 2024. When I penned this column, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite had Freeman ranked as a five-star prospect.
Most of the primary recruiting services situate him within the top-25 nationally in the 2024 cycle.
To date, Freeman’s other offers include from Alabama, Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Xavier, George Mason and Old Dominion. Louisville is also reportedly showing interest in him.
In 2021-22, as a sophomore for St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., Freeman averaged 13 points and seven rebounds a game, according to MaxPreps.
For his 2021-22 season, he was named to the All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (“WCAC”) second team, and MaxPreps gave Freeman an honorable-mention nod within its All-America squads for the 2024 class.
On the AAU tour, Freeman runs with the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league. Syracuse basketball has solid ties to Team Takeover, a program whose alumni base includes current Orange forward Benny Williams, a rising sophomore, and 2022 signee Justin Taylor, a four-star shooting guard/small forward.
At the recently held Mayhem in Maryland, an AAU event in Baltimore, Freeman earned some nice praise from various analysts and scouts, one of whom said that Freeman has longer-term pro potential.
In at least two interviews with recruiting analysts of late, Freeman has said that when he’s able to make campus trips, he plans to take an official visit to Syracuse basketball.
Ian Jackson
Not too long ago, the Orange offered a scholarship to five-star guard Ian Jackson from New York City, who is a serious contender for the No. 1 national ranking in 2024.
The 6-foot-6 Jackson, even more recently, said in two interviews with analysts that Syracuse basketball is presently among the college squads recruiting him the hardest.
Of course, Jackson’s recruiting process could have a way to go, but it’s encouraging to hear that the ‘Cuse coaching staff appears to be making a run at him.
Jackson is a stand-out for Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, N.Y., which during the 2021-22 stanza was a top-10 team on a national scale, according to some pundits who closely follow high-school hoops.
As a sophomore for Cardinal Hayes, Jackson averaged 19.8 points, five rebounds and four assists per encounter and was named the national sophomore of the year by MaxPreps. That’s impressive stuff.
On the spring AAU circuit, Jackson is suiting up for the Bronx, N.Y.-based Wiz Kids in the Adidas league. During NCAA live periods in grassroots basketball in April, as well as at more recent AAU events, Jackson has proven one of the top all-around performers in his class.
Besides Syracuse basketball, those groups that have offered Jackson include Kansas, UCLA, Oregon, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Oklahoma State, Connecticut, Nebraska, Kansas State and Bryant.
Duke, Kentucky, Florida State, Virginia, Tennessee and Texas Tech, among others, are displaying interest in Jackson.
I’m no recruiting analyst, but I feel comfortable in saying that Jackson will likely receive offers from all of those schools that I just mentioned are showing interest in him, plus many more big-time programs.
All of the main recruiting services rate Jackson as a top-five national prospect in 2024, with several recruiting Web sites putting him at No. 2 overall at this juncture.
Like I said earlier, Jackson will be a significant contender for No. 1 across the country in this cycle.
Jackson has said that he’d like to check out some west coast campuses, such as UCLA and Oregon. Given that he’s from New York City, it would disappoint me if Syracuse basketball coaches weren’t able to get him on the Hill for an official or at least an unofficial visit at some point down the line.
Derik Queen
Derik Queen, a five-star big man and a top-10 national player in 2024, has in the past drawn comparisons to former Orange legend Carmelo Anthony.
For one, they both have ties to Baltimore. But the 6-foot-9 Queen, a power forward/center, has been likened to Anthony even more so by some experts because of the young man’s stellar mid-range game.
So, naturally, we’d love for Queen to replicate Anthony’s success in Central New York, as Carmelo led the ‘Cuse to the program’s only national title in 2003.
No pressure, Derik! All kidding aside, Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to Queen last October.
He hails from Baltimore, and in his first season for the Saint Frances Academy in that city, he was arguably the country’s top freshman.
As a sophomore, Queen moved on from the Saint Frances Academy to the Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., which in recent years has proven the nation’s No. 1 prep-school squad.
In early April, the Montverde Academy won the prestigious 2022 GEICO Nationals in Ft. Myers, Fla.
The Eagles featured an absolutely loaded line-up in 2021-22, and therefore Queen didn’t log a ton of minutes. But he still averaged 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest for the Montverde Academy, while getting an All-America honorable-mention nod within the 2024 class from MaxPreps.
Come mid-June, I’d envision that Queen’s list of offers will greatly grow. Beyond the Orange, his early offers have arrived from teams such as Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU, Arizona State and Xavier.
He’s pretty much a consensus top-10 overall prospect in 2024 and could make a run at No. 1 nationally in this class when all is said and done.
Recruiting services also view him as the No. 1 or the No. 2 power forward/center around the entire country in the 2024 cycle.
In AAU competitions, Queen stars for the Baltimore-based Team Thrill in the Under Armour Association (“UAA”) league. With college coaches in attendance during NCAA live periods in April, Queen had really strong performances, experts say.
Robert Wright III
To say that four-star point guard Robert Wright III had a good sophomore season for his Philadelphia high school in 2021-22 is a massive understatement.
In fact, the 6-foot-1 Wright put forth one of the finest sophomore terms as you’ll come across nationwide.
Offered a scholarship by Syracuse basketball coaches this past March, Wright in 2021-22 averaged 19.3 points, 4.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals a game, according to MaxPreps.
What’s more, in post-season play, he tallied nearly 22 points per affair in helping lead Neumann-Goretti High School in Philadelphia to a 23-4 overall mark and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (“PIAA”) 4A state title.
For his efforts, Wright was named the Pennsylvania All-State Class 4A player of the year in 2021-22, while MaxPreps put him in the All-America honorable-mention category for the sophomore recruiting class.
Looking ahead, analysts view Neumann-Goretti as a potential top-25 national team prior to the 2022-23 campaign commencing.
As the primary recruiting services refresh and expand their 2024 national ratings, I believe that Wright will emerge as a four-star, top-50 prospect as well as a top-10 point guard in this cycle.
Assuming he continues to shine for both Neumann-Goretti and in grassroots basketball, I could envision Wright making a case to achieve five-star status in his class.
This spring, as a member of the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike’s EYBL league, Wright has performed admirably, including when college coaches could watch him in person during April live periods.
As far as his recruitment goes, it appears that Syracuse basketball is making Wright a priority in 2024. He said in a recent interview that Orange assistant coach Gerry McNamara is recruiting him hard.
Other college teams that have offered Wright include Maryland, Miami, Wake Forest, Seton Hall, VCU, Wichita State, La Salle and Delaware State.
Wright is a fast-rising player in the 2024 class. I’m glad that the ‘Cuse coaching staff got involved with him early on, but we should expect Wright’s number of impressive suitors to expand as his recruiting process carries onward.
Yves Missi
The recruitment of four-star center Yves Missi is growing by leaps and bounds of late. In fact, one could reasonably opine that his recruitment is totally blowing up (in a good way).
The 6-foot-11 Missi has been on a tear this spring in AAU events. His national rankings are climbing, and his offer sheet is ballooning.
Syracuse basketball coaches offered him last December. Around that time, his early offers had arrived from squads including UCLA, St. John’s, Rutgers, DePaul, Norfolk State and USC Upstate.
However, amid NCAA live periods in April when presumably a lot of college coaches watched Missi play in person, some of the newer suitors vying for his services are 2022 national champion Kansas, 2021 Big Dance winner Baylor, UConn, Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana.
This is all occurring prior to college coaches being able to contact Missi directly. In the coming days, when coaches can initiate communication with him, I can only imagine how his offer list is going to look in the near future.
Missi is a rising junior at the West Nottingham Academy in Colora, Md. He has impressed analysts and scouts lately with his performances on the AAU circuit with the Bronx, N.Y.-based PSA Cardinals in Nike’s EYBL league.
Experts rave about Missi’s defensive instincts and rim-protecting abilities. He is highly proficient at blocking and altering shots without fouling his opponents.
On offense, his paint moves are certainly credible, although some scouts do note that his offensive skill-set will continue to get refined.
Multiple recruiting services currently rate Missi as a top-40 overall player in the 2024 class, as well as a top-10 center in this cycle.
Munch Williams, the executive director of the PSA Cardinals, recently told SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister that after June 15 arrives, ‘Cuse coaches are likely to increase their pursuit of Missi.
By extension, Syracuse basketball is hoping to land a visit from Missi at some point, according to Williams. That would prove a huge step in solidifying the Orange as a solid contender for this talented big man.
Damarius Owens
In April, Syracuse basketball coaches extended an offer to underrated wing Damarius Owens, who is from Upstate New York.
The 6-foot-7 guard/forward is just starting to see his recruitment pick up, and undoubtedly the Orange will witness the competition for Owens grow as college coaches can reach out to him directly.
As a sophomore in the 2021-22 season, he suited up for the Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. But prior to that, Owens played for the Aquinas Institute in Rochester, N.Y.
Given his New York roots, my hope is that the ‘Cuse can evolve into a big-time contender for Owens.
In AAU, he is a member of the Albany City Rocks in Nike’s EYBL league. As all of my fellow Orange hoops fanatics know, the City Rocks is a strong AAU program, and numerous of its players have gone on to don a Syracuse basketball uniform in college.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, Owens had a monster game at the third EYBL session of the spring circuit, which took place in Louisville, Ky.
As we discussed in a separate column, Owens tallied 18 points, three rebounds and three blocks in that encounter. Additionally, he was highly efficient in shooting the ball, connecting on 7-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
Owens also put forth a couple of massive performances in grassroots basketball during the month of April, when college coaches were in attendance.
So with these types of recent outings in AAU events, one would assume that Owens’ offer list will continue to grow, particularly after college coaches can communicate with him directly later this month.
He said via Twitter on April 10 that the Orange had offered him, and some of his other early offers are from Creighton, Cincinnati, UMass, Siena and UMBC.
While it doesn’t seem that Owens is nationally ranked by the main recruiting services, for now, considering how he’s fared in grassroots basketball so far this spring, he should be positioned to enter the 2024 ratings at some point.
Owens has said in at least one interview that he was excited by the Syracuse basketball offer. I hope that the ‘Cuse becomes a legit contender for him.
Elijah Moore
In April, around the time that Syracuse basketball offered five-star guard Ian Jackson, the Orange also extended a scholarship offer to Jackson’s high-school and AAU teammate, shooting guard Elijah Moore.
While Jackson is currently ranked No. 2 nationally in the 2024 class, Moore is perhaps flying a bit under the radar on a national basis. Trust me, though. That is going to change.
Regardless of whether he’s ranked or not, Moore already is known as one of the best shooters across the country in his cycle, according to analysts and scouts.
Case in point, in one AAU game during the April live periods, Moore made nine 3-pointers and collected 33 points. He was also a stand-out at the recently held KYDA Invitational in Scranton, Pa.
In grassroots basketball, Moore suits up for the Bronx, N.Y.-based Wiz Kids in the Adidas league.
As a sophomore in 2021-22, Moore was instrumental (and so, too, was Jackson) in leading Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, N.Y., to a fabulous 26-3 record and a New York state Catholic High School Athletic Association (“CHSAA”) Class AA championship.
MaxPreps, in its final top 25 for 2021-22, had Cardinal Hayes at No. 7 in its national rankings.
With Moore and Jackson both heading into their junior seasons this fall, I would imagine that Cardinal Hayes will once again prove one of the top teams around the country in 2022-23.
As far as his recruiting process goes, besides Syracuse basketball, Moore recently picked up an offer from former Big East Conference rival Seton Hall.
His other offers include from Xavier, Saint Peter’s, Temple and Fordham.
Without question, due to his recent stellar play on the AAU circuit as well as his strong sophomore season for a top-10 Cardinal Hayes squad, Moore is going to see his offer sheet grow in the near future.
In fact, I could envision him landing a bunch of new offers on June 15 or shortly thereafter.
While I’m not an analyst nor a scout, I also think that Moore is primed to enter the 2024 national rankings as a four-star, top-100 prospect, if not higher than that.
His shooting skills are top-notch, and I’m pumped that Syracuse basketball is making a run at talented players from New York City like Ian Jackson and Elijah Moore.