Syracuse Basketball: Orange should make top 5 for fast-rising 4-star SF

Syracuse basketball priority recruiting target Marcus Adams Jr. from the west coast plans to disclose his top five on Wednesday, and I expect the Orange to make his list cut.

The 6-foot-8 Adams, a fast-rising four-star small forward, has the option to be a member of either the 2023 or the 2024 recruiting class. To date, the ‘Cuse doesn’t have a commitment in its 2023 cycle, but the team did recently land a verbal commitment from 2024 four-star shooting guard Elijah Moore out of New York City.

Adams, rated in the top 65 overall by 247Sports, is one of the hottest high-school prospects around the country, regardless of class designation. During the current 2022-23 season, he has put up some monster numbers for Nathaniel Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles.

A few days ago, Adams was on the ‘Cuse campus taking an official visit to Syracuse basketball. He was also in attendance this past Monday night, when the Orange fell by five points to No. 6 Virginia at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse basketball is likely to make the top five for skyrocketing four-star SF Marcus Adams Jr.

Adams shared on his Instagram page that he plans to release his top five on Wednesday. He received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse coaching staff in late December, and his recruitment has blown up lately.

His offer sheet, beyond the Orange, includes Oregon, Texas, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Washington State.

Recent media reports have stated that Adams has also taken unofficial visits to San Diego and Oregon State. I’ve also seen recent articles suggesting college teams that may be showing interest in him include Kentucky, UCLA, Michigan, Texas Tech and Southern California.

In grassroots basketball, Adams has competed for the Los Angeles-based Elev8 Elite, which is an Adidas-sponsored program, and reports have said he plans to suit up for the Compton, Calif.-based Compton Magic in the Adidas league during the upcoming AAU circuit.

As I first reported late last month, businessman, philanthropist and top SU booster Adam Weitsman has offered a significant name, image and likeness deal to Adams. Weitsman tells me that his NIL offer to Adams is for the 2023 class.

Weitsman declined to provide specifics about the length of this proposed NIL deal to Adams, but he did say that it is a six-figure offer with incentives that could grow this deal to seven figures.

When I published this column, 247Sports had Adams rated as four stars, No. 61 overall, No. 16 at small forward and No. 6 in California within the 2024 class. But to reiterate, Adams can end up in the 2023 cycle as well.