Syracuse Basketball: Orange remains in pursuit of City Rocks 4-star wing

Four-star wing Damarius Owens, a fast-rising guard/small forward in the 2024 class, had some positive things to say about Syracuse basketball in a recent interview.

That being said, as his play on the court remains at a high level, the 6-foot-7 Owens is seeing his list of offers and interest grow, which means more competition for the Orange.

Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to Owens, a native of Rochester, N.Y., in April of 2022. And last October, he took an official visit to the Hill.

Owens is a junior at the Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. In grassroots basketball, he suits up for the Albany City Rocks in Nike’s EYBL league, a program with which the ‘Cuse coaching staff is quite familiar.

As we noted in another recent column, Owens caught the eye of some national analysts and scouts for his performance at the recent 2023 Flyin’ to the Hoop Invitational at the Trent Arena in the Kettering suburb of Dayton, Ohio.

Syracuse basketball faces expanding competition for 2024 four-star wing Damarius Owens.

Owens, so far in his recruiting process, has picked up numerous offers from a range of high-major squads. In a recent interview that he conducted with 247Sports national analyst Travis Branham, teams mentioned as being in pursuit of Owens included the Orange, Marquette, Xavier and Virginia Tech.

Owens said that Alabama is starting to show interest in him, and he added in the 247Sports article that he would like to try to take official visits to both Alabama and Virginia Tech. Per his Twitter page, Owens recently took an official visit to Marquette.

Regarding the ‘Cuse, Owens told 247Sports, “I like Syracuse. I grew up watching them so it’s been a good experience. It’s crazy, Red (Autry) is like another father-figure to me.”

Owens appears to be taking his time with his recruiting process, saying to 247Sports that he plans to wait until after the upcoming AAU circuit before making a college decision.

The 247Sports recruiting service presently has Owens ranked at No. 111 nationally in the 2024 class. Personally, I think that Owens is underrated by a lot of the primary recruiting Web sites. ESPN does have him as a four-star player in the 2024 cycle.

Then again, in a recent story, 247Sports’ Branham wrote in part 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.”

We’ll obviously continue to track Owens’ recruitment. Hopefully, Syracuse basketball will remain a significant contender for him.