Syracuse Basketball: 4-star NYC target vaults into rankings, has big games

A Syracuse basketball target from New York City has jumped into the latest national rankings in his class from one of the primary recruiting services.

Brandon Stores Jr., who was offered a scholarship by the Orange around a year ago, has put forth some impressive performances of late for his team, the St. Raymond High School for Boys in the Bronx, N.Y.

According to social media posts, for example, the 6-foot-4 wing had games of 35 points and 25 points in January. Stores is a four-star shooting guard/small forward in the 2025 cycle.

When Rivals.com updated its national ratings for the sophomore class, Stores went from unranked into the top 70 across the country, which is an impressive leap.

Syracuse basketball four-star target Brandon Stores Jr. can score in droves.

At present, Rivals.com has Stores as four stars and No. 65 overall in the 2025 cycle. I’m not seeing Stores included in current national rankings for his class from other primary recruiting services at this time, but I do expect that to change.

Per social media, the ‘Cuse coaching staff offered Stores in February of 2022. A recent article from Rivals.com national analyst Travis Graf notes that Stores’s offer sheet also includes Xavier, Manhattan and George Mason, along with interest from UCLA, Rutgers and Houston.

Additionally, under his bio on Rivals.com, Stores appears to be receiving interest from squads such as Maryland, Oklahoma State, South Carolina and St. John’s.

Graf wrote in his story from late December that Stores is eyeing some potential campus visits once the 2022-23 high-school season is completed. Naturally, I hope that he elects to take a trip to the Hill.

Recruiting efforts by Syracuse basketball and its peers throughout Division I men’s hoops in the 2025 class are still in the early stages, but the Orange coaching staff has already doled out a handful of offers to prospects in this cycle.

Besides Stores, the ‘Cuse offered four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony last November. The 6-foot-3 Anthony, a sophomore who is transferring from Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village, N.Y., to Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., is the son of Syracuse basketball legend Carmelo Anthony.

Other offers by the Orange to 2025 players include four-star guard Jerry Easter II with the Emmanuel Christian School in Toledo, Ohio, four-star wing Efeosa Oliogu out of the United Scholastic Academy in Toronto, and four-star guard Darius Adams with Manasquan High School in Manasquan, N.J.

We’ll certainly continue to track the recruiting processes of these various ‘Cuse 2025 recruits, and a huge congratulations to Brandon Stores Jr. for his new national ranking from Rivals.com.