Syracuse Basketball: 4-star target makes one of biggest jumps in rankings

Ever since Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to underrated and talented 2024 shooting guard Elijah Moore this past spring, I’ve been prognosticating that the lethal four-star prospect from New York City should reside within the top 50 across the country in his class.

The 6-foot-4 Moore is getting there. When Rivals.com recently updated its national rankings for the junior cycle, he boasted one of the largest gains nationwide in these latest 2024 ratings.

Rivals.com, now, places Moore as four stars and No. 68 overall. Previously, this recruiting service had him at No. 104, meaning that Moore climbed by a whopping 36 spots.

Additionally, when 247Sports recently refreshed its 2024 rankings, it put Moore as four stars, No. 73 nationally, No. 13 at shooting guard and No. 3 in the state of New York.

Syracuse basketball is recruiting 2024 four-star guard Elijah Moore hard.

In recent articles about Moore, and interviews given by him, the Orange has been noted as among the college squads presently recruiting him the hardest.

Moore recently told Zach Smart in an interview on nychoops.rivals.com that some of the programs he has already forged “close ties” with are Syracuse basketball, Mississippi State, UConn, Notre Dame and Seton Hall.

Not too long ago, Alabama and California offered Moore. His offer sheet also includes Seton Hall, Xavier, Connecticut, St. John’s, VCU, Mississippi State, Bryant, Temple, Saint Peter’s, Columbia, Fordham, Saint Joseph’s and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

I continue to maintain that Moore is still underrated on a national scale. In grassroots basketball during the spring and summer months, he earned a flood of praise from national analysts and scouts for his performances as a member of the Bronx, N.Y.-based Wiz Kids in the Adidas league.

Moore is a junior at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, N.Y., a group that was stellar a stanza ago and is poised to contend for a top-25 national ranking in the upcoming 2022-23 season.

In late August, Moore took an unofficial visit to the Hill to attend the Orange’s annual Elite Camp. He has said that his play style aligns well with the ‘Cuse system, and I am hopeful that Moore will take an official visit to Syracuse basketball at some point in the future.

The fall recruiting period opened up more than two weeks ago, and it has been reported that the Orange coaching staff is visiting Moore during open gyms.

When I penned this column, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rated Moore as four stars, No. 99 around the country, No. 18 at shooting guard and No. 4 in New York.

As Moore shines for Cardinal Hayes in his junior term, I’m confident that this priority recruiting target for the ‘Cuse will ultimately land in the top 50. He’s the goods.