Syracuse basketball has entered the extremely crowded field for one of the country’s top high-school prospects in the junior class.
Per a tweet from scout Andrew Slater of Cerebro Sports, the Orange coaching staff has offered a scholarship to 2024 five-star point guard Boogie Fland, who plays high-school and AAU ball in New York state.
The 6-foot-3 Fland is a junior at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, N.Y., which is the same school that former Syracuse basketball forward Alan Griffin attended.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Boogie Fland’24 @BoogieFland of @step_basketball & @PSACardinals has earned an offer from #Syracuse University. 🍊 🍊 pic.twitter.com/dIkYB6IOrA
— 𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇ℯ𝓌 𝒮𝓁𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓇 (@Andrew__Slater) January 11, 2023
In grassroots basketball, Fland runs with the Bronx, N.Y.-based PSA Cardinals in Nike’s EYBL league. All of the primary recruiting services rate him as five stars, and Fland checks in no lower than No. 16 nationally within the 2024 cycle.
The ‘Cuse coaching staff, as we recently discussed, is in search of its first commitment in the junior class.
Syracuse basketball faces extremely stiff competition for five-star point guard Boogie Fland.
According to recruiting services, Fland boasts around 30 scholarship offers at this juncture in his recruitment, and it’s a mighty impressive list of high-major college programs.
His offer sheet includes North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Villanova, UCLA, UConn, Oregon, Indiana, LSU, Auburn, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland, Miami, Pittsburgh, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s, TCU, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, Louisville, Florida and Oklahoma, among others.
Per recruiting Web sites and media reports, Fland took an official visit to North Carolina last September, but I haven’t seen anything about additional campus visits at this time.
Earlier this week, On3 updated its 2024 national rankings. Fland arrived at No. 5 overall, No. 1 at point guard and No. 2 in New York. The industry-generated On3 Consensus has him at No. 10 nationally, No. 2 at point guard and No. 2 in New York.
On a national scale, Fland is No. 9 at Rivals.com, No. 11 via the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, No. 12 from 247Sports and No. 16 via ESPN.
I imagine that some Syracuse basketball fans will opine that the Orange has little to no shot at landing a commitment from Fland, however, as I always say, you can’t win out for a top-flight player unless you offer him first.
It’s worth pointing out here that not too long ago, the ‘Cuse was in the top six for another 2024 five-star point guard, 6-foot-1 Elliot Cadeau out of the Link Academy in Branson, Mo.
However, in late December, Cadeau verbally committed to North Carolina. I’ll be curious to see whether his pledge to the Tar Heels has any impact on Fland’s recruiting process, since he holds an offer from UNC and has officially visited Chapel Hill, N.C.
We’ll continue to monitor Fland’s recruitment. It would prove huge if Syracuse basketball coaches could get him on the Hill for an official visit in the future.