Syracuse Basketball: 4-star targets were the talk of Under Armour circuit

Without question, two of the biggest stars on the AAU circuit during the most recent live period held earlier this month were Syracuse basketball priority recruiting targets Joseph Estrella and Elmarko Jackson.

Both the 6-foot-11 Estrella, a 2023 four-star big man, and the 6-foot-4 Jackson, a 2023 four-star point guard, compete in the Under Armour Association league in grassroots basketball.

Estrella plays for the New England-based Middlesex Magic, which has proven one of the best AAU squads on any shoe-sponsored circuit this spring and summer. Jackson suits up for the Delaware-based WE R1.

According to national recruiting analysts, when the Under Armour Association held its latest round of battles in Cartersville, Ga., during an NCAA live period, a ton of college coaches watched Estrella and Jackson play in person.

The Syracuse basketball coaching staff was in attendance for Estrella in Cartersville, per media reports, although it wasn’t entirely clear to me if Orange coaches watched Jackson, too.

Syracuse basketball is in a recruiting war for a pair of 4-stars in 2023.

I perused the Under Armour Association’s Web site, and here are the box scores that I came across for Jackson and Estrella in affairs that they played in as part of the latest session in Cartersville.

Joseph Estrella
Game 1: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 steal
Game 2: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 1 steal
Game 3: 20 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block
Game 4: 13 points, 12 rebounds and 1 assist
Game 5: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 blocks
Game 6: 9 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block

Elmarko Jackson
Game 1: 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal
Game 2: 25 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks
Game 3: 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals
Game 4: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal
Game 5: 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists
Game 6: 24 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks

As you can see, those are fairly big-time numbers from both of these Orange recruiting targets in the rising-senior class.

Duke is getting some analyst buzz for Estrella on the 247Sports Web site. He is lining up official visits, including one to the Blue Devils, and it’s possible he may take an official visit to the Hill.

Estrella, whose national rankings and offer sheet have blown up lately, received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse last August at the team’s annual Elite Camp, and it was his first offer from a college squad. He will spend his senior year at the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H.

Jackson, meanwhile, remains vastly underrated to me in the 2023 class, at least according to some absurdly low national rankings that he has from recruiting services.

He will suit up as a senior for the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn. Jackson’s offer list, too, has grown considerably of late. Some of his newer offers are from Villanova, Kansas, Michigan, Texas and Indiana.

Jackson has said in a couple of interviews that he may take a trip to Central New York. I personally think it’s critical for the Syracuse basketball coaching staff to get Jackson and Estrella on the Hill for official visits if the Orange hopes to win out in either of their flourishing recruitments.