Syracuse Basketball: City Rocks recruit poised for ratings leap, per expert

In the rising-senior class, new Syracuse basketball recruiting target Elijah Gertrude has seemed to be flying a bit under the radar on a national scale within the 2023 cycle.

However, that’s likely to change as the 6-foot-3 combo guard gears up for the July live period on the AAU circuit. Gertrude’s offer list is growing, and he was recently offered a scholarship by the Orange and Virginia, among others.

Assuming he shines this month in grassroots basketball for the Albany City Rocks in Nike’s EYBL league, the three-star Gertrude should move toward four stars, according to a recent article from Eric Bossi, the national basketball director for 247Sports.

In his piece, Bossi called Gertrude a potential stock-riser in the 2023 class as college coaches will be able to watch high-school prospects in person in July amid an NCAA live period. This month’s live period, by the way, follows other recent live periods in April and June.

Syracuse basketball offered three-star combo guard Elijah Gertrude just a few days ago.

Multiple recruiting services, including 247Sports, On3 and the industry-generated On3 Consensus, presently rate Gertrude as a three-star player in the 2023 cycle.

Bossi notes that while Gertrude is currently ranked No. 139 across the country according to 247Sports, the new ‘Cuse recruit “looks to have hopped on the elevator towards four-star status. He makes shots from deep, has athletic upside and has really been turning things up of late.”

Besides suiting up for the City Rocks, whose alumni base includes numerous former Orange players, Gertrude is a rising senior at Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City, N.J.

Beyond Syracuse basketball and UVA, Gertrude has received offers from teams including St. Bonaventure, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, St. John’s, Iona, Saint Peter’s, Rutgers and Temple.

In another recent story from 247Sports, it was detailed that Gertrude has made unofficial visits to Rutgers and Seton Hall. He’s also taken an official visit to St. John’s and plans to officially visit the Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Va., at the end of July.

Naturally, we’d love to see Gertrude travel to the Hill for an official visit at some point in the future. For my money, Gertrude is a four-star, top-100 national prospect in his class.

He has earned high praise from some national analysts and scouts for his performances this spring and early summer in grassroots basketball.

More recently, at the end of June, Gertrude was a stand-out at the Philly Live showcase in Philadelphia during a live period.

We’ll certainly continue to closely monitor Gertrude’s recruiting process. I’m sure many more impressive offers will end up arriving for him.

As far as the Orange’s recruiting efforts in 2023, Syracuse basketball has also been pursuing two four-star guards, Reid Ducharme of the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., and Elmarko Jackson from the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn.

Ducharme, who took an official visit to Central New York in June, is described by recruiting services as a shooting guard/small forward.

Jackson, meanwhile, has seen his offer sheet blow up lately. From what I can tell, he’s more of a point guard.