Syracuse Basketball: Analyst praises play of Judah Mintz so far this season

Entering the 2022-23 campaign, freshman point guard Judah Mintz was the highest-ranked commit in a promising six-member 2022 class for Syracuse basketball.

Though he’s experienced some understandable growing pains to date in the 2022-23 term, given his fast-paced style of play and the fact that his collegiate career is only 13 games old, the 6-foot-3 Mintz has done a lot of wonderful things on the court at this juncture in the present stanza.

As we’ve previously noted, he’s received some early buzz for the 2023 NBA Draft, but Mintz has a long way to go before he’s deemed a likely one-and-done player.

That being said, as the Orange (8-5, 1-1 in the ACC) prepares to host fellow Atlantic Coast Conference squad Boston College (7-6, 1-1) on New Year’s Eve, Judah Mintz is garnering high praise from national experts. And deservingly so.

Syracuse basketball point guard Judah Mintz is shining in his freshman stint.

Per ESPN statistics, through 13 contests, Mintz is averaging 30.8 minutes, 15.6 points, 4.0 assists, 2.1 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.9 turnovers per affair.

He is connecting on 42.8 percent from the field, 18.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.7 percent from the free-throw line. Mintz’s shooting percentages from the field as a whole, and from deep, need to improve.

But his keen sense to facilitate for his teammates, weave through defenders to score at the rim, and connect on mid-range jumpers are really impressive. Mintz is an excellent defender, has a ton of energy, and is tough as nails.

When I checked the ACC’s Web site on December 28, Mintz at that time was No. 11 within the league in scoring, No. 11 in assists, No. 1 in steals and No. 7 in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Right now, Judah Mintz is slightly ahead of senior shooting guard Joe Girard III in points per game on the Syracuse basketball roster. Mintz has already tallied at least 20 points on four separate occasions.

When the Orange lost at home, 84-82, on December 20 to Pittsburgh, he tied his career high with 24 points, to go along with five rebounds, four assists and a whopping five steals.

Mintz has been selected as the ACC’s rookie of the week twice so far in 2022-23. Hailing from Fort Washington, Md., Mintz was a standout as a senior at the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.

In the 2022 cycle, ESPN rated him the highest out of the primary recruiting services, at four stars and No. 36 across the country.

Rivals.com ranked Mintz as four stars and No. 61 overall, and a national analyst with that recruiting Web site, Rob Cassidy, recently doled out some praise in Mintz’s direction.

In a recent article, Cassidy discussed the following question: “Which college freshman is panning out better than you thought he would while he was in high school?”

"Cassidy responded with Mintz. The Rivals.com analyst wrote, “I always thought Mintz had professional upside if everything broke correctly, but I’m not sure I saw the reigning ACC Rookie of the Week averaging 15 points and four assists per game out of the gate. I think there’s something to be said here for a player’s fit within a system, as Mintz’s length, pace and ball-handling ability always seemed like a perfect match for Jim Boeheim’s system. Still, there’s even more to be discussed when it comes to Mintz’s development, not just physically but as a creator off the bounce, where he seems to have gotten better at finding ways to get by his man and forcing defenses to react.”"

For my money, Judah Mintz is playing like one of the best freshmen nationwide, and I hope that continues on New Year’s Eve and into 2023.