Syracuse basketball was in the house as Philly 4-stars battled in a thriller

Earlier this week, the Syracuse basketball staff was in attendance as two AAU teammates, who play for different high schools in the Philadelphia area, squared off in an entertaining contest that came down to the wire.

This game featured Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia hosting Archbishop Wood Catholic High School from Warminster, Pa. Top scout Andrew Slater of Cerebro Sports said in a tweet that coaches from the Orange, Villanova, Temple, Penn State and LaSalle, among others, were watching.

Ultimately, Archbishop Ryan prevailed by a final count of 55-54. In the encounter’s final seconds, an Archbishop Wood player did make a potential game-winning basket, however, the officials ruled that the shot attempt came just after the final buzzer sounded.

According to a separate tweet from Slater, 2024 four-star big man Thomas Sorber tallied 17 points and seven rebounds for Archbishop Ryan. On the other side, 2024 four-star guard Jalil Bethea had 18 points, 17 points of which came in the second half, for Archbishop Wood.

Syracuse basketball was recently checking out two four-star recruits from the Philadephia area.

Both the 6-foot-9 Sorber, a talented power forward/center, and the 6-foot-4 Bethea, a highly skilled combo guard, hold scholarship offers from the ‘Cuse. They each also run in grassroots basketball with the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike’s EYBL league.

Sorber took an unofficial visit to the Hill last August to participate in the Orange’s annual Elite Camp. It was around that time that he got an offer from Syracuse basketball coaches.

In late September of 2022, the Orange offered Bethea. He took an official visit to Syracuse basketball about a month later.

As we’ve noted in several recent columns, Sorber and Bethea continue to rapidly rise up the national rankings within the junior class.

When the On3 recruiting service updated its 2024 player ratings not too long ago, Sorber skyrocketed from No. 117 overall to No. 43 overall. He is also the No. 6 center and the No. 1 player in Pennsylvania within the 2024 cycle, per On3.

Sorber’s offer sheet includes Villanova, Xavier, Miami, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Georgetown, Providence, Mississippi State, Richmond, La Salle, Saint Joseph’s, Bryant, George Mason, Drexel and Albany.

Bethea, according to On3, jumped from No. 128 nationally to No. 72 across the country. That recruiting service also rates him as the No. 19 shooting guard and the No. 6 player in Pennsylvania within his class.

At this point in his recruiting process, Bethea has more than 20 offers from squads such as Notre Dame, St. John’s, Villanova, UCLA, Seton Hall, Miami, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, VCU, Mississippi State and Temple.

As I first reported a few days ago, businessman, philanthropist and top SU booster Adam Weitsman has offered a lucrative name, image and likeness deal to Bethea. While Weitsman declined to provide specifics, he did say his offer to Bethea is a six-figure deal with incentives that could grow it to seven figures.