Syracuse Basketball: Judah Mintz potential 1st-round draft prospect – scout

Syracuse basketball freshman guard Judah Mintz is a potential first-round NBA Draft prospect, according to an article from one of the top scouts out there.

In a recent piece, 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein dissected possible NBA Draft prospects out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and naturally, there are guys who suit up for Duke, North Carolina, Florida State and others mentioned in this story.

The 6-foot-3 Mintz, a combo guard who is expected to start at point guard when the Orange’s 2022-23 regular season commences at home on November 7 against Lehigh, is listed by Finkelstein in the category of potential 1st-round prospects.

Others in this same category include Central New York native J.J. Starling, a five-star guard in the 2022 class who had the ‘Cuse in his top five before committing to Notre Dame.

Syracuse basketball freshman guard Judah Mintz is getting some early NBA Draft buzz.

Coming out of the 2022 cycle, the consensus four-star Judah Mintz committed to the Orange at the end of March after originally giving a verbal commitment to Pittsburgh.

In the 2022 class, he was ranked as high as No. 33 overall by ESPN after having a stellar senior year for the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.

"Finkelstein writes that Judah Mintz “has a significant opportunity in front of him” in the upcoming stanza. The 247Sports scout adds in part about Mintz, “According to the early buzz, the results of him playing on the ball have been encouraging. Everything would have to go right for him to be a one-and-done first-rounder, but that outcome isn’t out of the question any longer.”"

In a separate recent article, 247Sports national analyst Travis Branham said in part that “Mintz plays with an endless amount of confidence, a ton of energy, he’s loud, he’s animated and he gets buckets.”

Last week, Judah Mintz had 14 points in a home exhibition game that the Orange won over Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 86-68. I made some observations about Mintz in this contest here.

I wrote this particular story on Tuesday evening just prior to Syracuse basketball playing Division II Southern New Hampshire at the JMA Wireless Dome in the Orange’s second and final exhibition tune-up, so I’m curious to see how Mintz performed in this encounter.

In a recent interview given by ‘Cuse head coach Jim Boeheim to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Boeheim said that he thinks Mintz can score “14-15 points every game and he could get 25 some nights.”

Boeheim also likened Judah Mintz to former Syracuse basketball star Jonny Flynn, a talented guard who played two years on the Hill before getting selected at No. 6 overall in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Assuming that Mintz shines as a freshman, could he depart the ‘Cuse after just one term? Perhaps. I could also envision him donning an Orange uniform for two seasons.

I’m really excited to see what Judah Mintz is going to do for Syracuse basketball in the 2022-23 campaign, which gets officially underway in a matter of days.