Syracuse Basketball: Priority 4-star big planning visits, will ‘Cuse grab one?

Syracuse basketball 2023 priority recruit Joseph Estrella, his offer sheet and national rankings continuing to soar, has earned a lot of praise in recent days for his performances at the prestigious NBPA Top 100 camp in Orlando, Fla.

While the 6-foot-11 power forward/center took an unofficial visit to the Hill last August for the Orange’s annual Elite Camp, at an event in which the ‘Cuse offered Estrella a scholarship, I’ve maintained for a while now that Syracuse basketball needs to get the four-star big man to Central New York for an official visit.

I’m not a recruiting analyst, nor am I in Estrella’s inner circle, however, I think it’s relatively safe to say that if the Orange doesn’t land an official visit from him, the team probably won’t win out in Estrella’s recruitment.

He’s got upwards of two-dozen offers from a range of high-major squads, including from several blue-blood programs such as Duke and Kansas. The competition is fierce, and the ‘Cuse can’t afford to miss out on hosting Estrella for an official visit if the Orange hopes to prevail here.

Syracuse basketball got involved with four-star Joseph Estrella really early on in his recruiting process.

On Thursday, college basketball insider Adam Zagoria reported that the Syracuse basketball coaching staff was among those in attendance for Estrella as he suited up in the NBPA Top 100 camp.

Coaches from Duke, Kansas, Tennessee, Marquette, Connecticut and Penn State, among others, also watched Estrella perform in the Sunshine State.

As we’ve noted numerous times, Estrella has already made trips to Marquette and Tennessee. Zagoria said that the Orange recruit will visit Iowa from July 28 to July 30 and is eyeing a potential visit to Duke from July 31 to August 2.

“I also have an unofficial to UConn,” Estrella told Zagoria.

Once August rolls around, Estrella can take up to five official visits as part of his senior year, in which he will compete for the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., after most recently starring at South Portland High School in South Portland, Maine.

Personally speaking, I’d be shocked if Estrella doesn’t make an official visit to Kansas, a team that won the 2022 NCAA Tournament this past spring.

Estrella has spoken highly of the Syracuse basketball program on numerous occasions, noting that Orange coaches are recruiting him hard.

That being said, I haven’t seen anything from Estrella in recent interviews with journalists or recruiting analysts about him planning an official visit to Central New York, at least not yet.

"In Zagoria’s piece, Estrella said of the ‘Cuse, “They really love that I can sprint the floor and shoot the ball at a high clip. They also love that I am a great passer out of the post.”"

Even if Syracuse basketball were to get an official visit from Estrella, notching a commitment from him will be really, really tough.

Besides the Orange, the Blue Devils and the Jayhawks, his other offers include from Creighton, UConn, Iona, Miami, UMass, Illinois, Missouri, Xavier, California, Maryland, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Iowa, Providence, Tennessee, Harvard, Maine, Penn State and Marquette.

I’m rooting for Joseph Estrella no matter where he ends up. He’s a great young man who is humble, works hard, has high character and focuses more on his teammates than himself.

It’s been fun to watch his recruitment take off. In addition to a skyrocketing offer list, Estrella has gone from an unranked 2023 prospect to a four-star player according to the bevy of recruiting services.

Estrella, who has thrived in grassroots basketball this spring and early summer for the New England-based Middlesex Magic in the Under Armour Association league, recently vaulted all the way to No. 21 across the country, per On3.

The two industry-generated composite rating systems both have Estrella within the top-60 nationally in his class.