Syracuse Basketball: Not feeling great that SU will make 4-star PG’s list cut

Fast-rising 2023 prospect Elmarko Jackson, a four-star point guard who holds a Syracuse basketball scholarship offer, plans to trim down his list of remaining contenders in the “coming days,” according to a report from college basketball insider Adam Zagoria.

The 6-foot-4 Jackson, who earned a flood of praise from national analysts and scouts for his performances on the AAU circuit in recent months, had said not too long ago on social media that he planned to cut his list in the near future.

Jackson has said that Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim has watched him a lot in person during live periods this spring and summer in grassroots basketball.

Additionally, a variety of reports and comments from analysts have spoken to the Orange prioritizing Jackson in the rising-senior class. However, a couple of recent articles on him aren’t giving me a lot of optimism that the ‘Cuse is going to make his list cut in the coming days.

Syracuse basketball offered four-star point guard Elmarko Jackson in April.

In his interview with Zagoria, Jackson said that he is likely to trim his list of those still in the running for him to “around seven” suitors.

Also in that piece, Jackson named Maryland, Texas, Miami, Villanova, Virginia, UCLA and VCU as among those college squads recruiting him the hardest.

Additionally, Jackson named a handful of teams recruiting him the hardest in an interview with 247Sports national analyst Brandon Jenkins.

This piece from Jenkins is VIP-exclusive content, so it’s not appropriate for me to share details, but I’ll just say that Jackson mentioned five teams, and the Orange wasn’t one of them.

Last month, a story from Sam Lance on zagsblog.com discussed the eight suitors recruiting Jackson the hardest, and at the time they were Miami, Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, UCLA, Ohio State, Indiana and VCU.

I’m not a recruiting analyst, nor am I in Jackson’s inner circle. So I’m not going to sit here and say that Syracuse basketball isn’t a contender for him any longer.

We’ll find that out soon enough, when Jackson discloses the teams still in the running in his recruitment.

Jackson, who recently vaulted in the top 25 when On3 updated its 2023 national ratings, is heading into his senior year, where he will compete for the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn.

Unquestionably, he was one of the best all-around performers in recent months on the AAU tour, as he suited up for the Delaware-based WE R1 in the Under Armour Association league.

He was also among a select number of top-flight players who were picked to participate in the Under Armour Next Elite 24 showcase in Chicago.

His offer sheet, lately, has ballooned to around 30. I hope that the Orange remains in the mix when he trims his list. But based on those three recent media reports, I’m not feeling so great about the ‘Cuse ultimately landing Elmarko Jackson.