Syracuse basketball coaches watch 4-star Canadian PG at NYC showcase

According to media reports and social media, a fast-rising four-star point guard who hails from Canada recently made a visit to the Orange campus, and then Syracuse basketball coaches checked him out at an event in the Big Apple.

I’m getting the sense that the recruitment of 2024 four-star prospect Jalik Dunkley-Distant is about to take off. He received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse in October and holds several other offers.

At the recently held Gotham City Showcase in New York City, the 6-foot-7 point guard received high praise for his play from the folks at ELITE High School Scouting.

What’s more, college basketball insider Adam Zagoria tweeted on January 8 that the ‘Cuse was among those in attendance to watch Dunkley-Distant at the Gotham City Showcase.

Syracuse basketball appears to have strong interest in Canadian point guard Jalik Dunkley-Distant.

Dunkley-Distant attends Orangeville Prep in Mono, Ontario, and he runs on the AAU circuit with the Toronto-based Bounce Elite in Nike’s EYBL league.

By the way, the head coach of Orangeville Prep is Tony McIntyre. One of his sons is former Syracuse basketball star Tyler Ennis.

Because he is from Canada, not all of the primary recruiting services rate Dunkley-Distant. That being said, in new 2024 rankings from On3, he is three stars and No. 112 overall.

Rivals.com, meanwhile, has Dunkley-Distant as four stars and No. 76. When I wrote this column, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed him as four stars and No. 97 in this cycle.

At this juncture in his recruiting process, Dunkley-Distant has offers from the Orange, Washington State, Rhode Island and Pittsburgh. His bio on Rivals.com notes interest from Arizona and Mississippi State.

Zagoria, in a tweet, said other college squads showing interest in Dunkley-Distant include Missouri, Xavier and Creighton.

Prior to the Gotham City Showcase, it seems that Dunkley-Distant may have made a quick visit to Syracuse on January 6, according to his Instagram page and ‘Cuse chat rooms.

As we’ve noted in many columns in recent months, the Orange has offered scholarships to a wide range of four-star and five-star prospects in the 2024 class.

On recent offer by Syracuse basketball coaches went out to three-star small forward Marcus Adams Jr. The 6-foot-8 Adams is a junior at Nathaniel Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles.