Syracuse Orange news: 4-star hoops target Damarius Owens shines, more

At a recent high-school hoops showcase, a Syracuse Orange basketball 2024 recruiting target caught the attention of various national analysts and scouts.

Four-star guard/forward Damarius Owens, a native of Rochester, N.Y., and his teammates at the Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, took on the Southern California Academy in Northridge, Calif., as part of the 2023 Flyin’ to the Hoop Invitational at the Trent Arena in the Kettering suburb of Dayton, Ohio.

In a tight contest, the Western Reserve Academy prevailed by a final count of 54-51. Per a box score provided on the event’s Twitter page, the 6-foot-7 Owens played 32 minutes, scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out one assist.

Owens connected on 5-of-11 from the field, 1-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. A member of the Albany City Rocks in Nike’s EYBL league on the AAU circuit, Owens received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse last April and took an official visit to the Hill this past October.

ESPN rates him as a four-star player, although several other primary recruiting services place Owens as three stars.

At present, he is No. 110 nationally in the junior cycle, per 247Sports.  Travis Branham, a national analyst with 247Sports, recently wrote that Owens “could be due for a bump come next update. He has good size and length for a versatile wing but is showing improved ball skills which could have him trending towards a guard.”

Other Syracuse Orange news

QB football recruit an All-American
As we noted in another column not too long ago, Syracuse Orange football 2025 recruiting target Stone Saunders put up a ridiculous sophomore season for his Pennsylvania high-school squad after also having a sensational freshman term.

The 6-foot-2 quarterback, offered a scholarship last April by the ‘Cuse coaching staff, recently was named to the 2022 MaxPreps sophomore All-America first team, and that inclusion doesn’t surprise me one iota.

In the recently completed season, Saunders helped guide Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, Pa., to a 13-1 overall record and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 4A championship.

As a sophomore, Saunders threw for 3,583 yards and 54 passing touchdowns against just five interceptions. A year earlier, in his freshman stint, he collected 3,037 passing yards and 46 touchdowns, with only five picks.

For his 2022 efforts, Saunders has picked up numerous other honors, including being named the MaxPreps 2022 player of the year in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Football Writers’ 4A player of the year, and PennLive’s Mid-Penn offensive player of the year.

Besides Syracuse Orange football, his offer sheet includes Rutgers, Georgia, Michigan, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Colorado, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Louisville, Cincinnati, Nebraska and UConn.

NCAA/recruiting news

The Big Dance should be wild
In this week’s Associated Press and Coaches top-25 polls, Houston is again No. 1, and the top four remained the same, with the Cougars followed by Kansas, Purdue and Alabama.

By the way, as far as the Atlantic Coast Conference is concerned, there are only three ranked teams, with Virginia at No. 10, Miami at No. 17 and Clemson at No. 19. Duke and North Carolina, meanwhile, are nowhere to be found.

We’ll have to wait and see whether Syracuse Orange men’s basketball can get into a position for a potential invite to this spring’s NCAA Tournament. But either way, the 2023 Big Dance should be a lot of fun, and it could include a ton of upsets.

You need to look no further than this past Saturday, a wild day in collegiate hoops that saw 11 ranked groups fall on the same day, which according to ESPN’s Myron Medcalf, tied an AP top-25 poll record going back to Jan. 29, 2011.

For some context, of those 11 setbacks, nine came on the road. And two ranked squads that lost did so to other ranked teams.

Regardless, is there a clear-cut favorite or small group of favorites as we move through January, then February and finally into March? I have no idea. Stay tuned. I sincerely hope that the ‘Cuse makes the Big Dance, but I’ll be watching March Madness no matter what.