Syracuse basketball should make cut when 4-star unveils new top schools

In several recent interviews, fast-rising four-star small forward Marcus Adams Jr. has said that he plans to drop a new list of his top contenders in the near future, and I do expect Syracuse basketball to be included.

For one, in late January, the 6-foot-8 Adams took an official visit to the Hill, and that trip went quite well. Both he and his AAU coach have spoken highly of the Orange hoops program on numerous occasions.

Then, in early February, Adams named a top five of the ‘Cuse, Texas, UCLA, Oregon and Mississippi State, although the top-65 national prospect has understandably kept his recruitment open as newer scholarship offers have arrived.

As I noted in another recent column, Adams, his younger brother (a new Syracuse basketball recruit), their AAU coach and their parents plan to take an unofficial visit to the Hill on Saturday, March 4, where they will attend the Orange’s 2022-23 regular-season finale versus Wake Forest at the JMA Wireless Dome.

But still, even as Syracuse basketball appears to have some things working in its favor for Adams, this young man’s recruitment remains extremely competitive.

Syracuse basketball is in a fierce recruiting battle for four-star small forward Marcus Adams Jr.

Adams, a standout for Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles, said via Twitter this week that he was planning to take an official visit to Kansas from February 24 to February 26.

The Jayhawks won the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and Kansas is in line for a No. 1 seed in this spring’s Big Dance, where the Jayhawks will be considered a serious threat to reach the Final Four and cut down the nets for the second year in a row.

In a recent story by SBLive Sports director of recruiting Andrew Nemec, Adams says he’s eyeing official visits to Texas and UCLA as well. That would leave him with one more official visit available during the current recruiting period.

Adams’ AAU coach is Cory DeSanti, who is the head coach of the Los Angeles-based Elev8 Elite, an Adidas-sponsored program. DeSanti recently told me that another potential option as far as an official visit goes is Southern California.

Since disclosing his initial top five, Adams’ recruitment has greatly expanded, as he has added offers from teams such as Mike Hopkins-led Washington, Tennessee, Kansas State, Xavier, Arkansas, Kansas, Indiana, Southern California and UCLA.

Adams, though, has an even larger offer sheet than I just described, which he shared on Twitter not too long ago.

"Regarding the latest in his recruiting process, Adams said in part to Nemec, “Every school that was in my top five before is still in, but there’s more (schools).”"

Separately, in a recent interview with high-school hoops analyst Alex Karamanos, Adams said that he was likely to release a new top three or top five at some point.

DeSanti previously said to me that Adams was looking at a possible commitment announcement in mid-April. Nemec’s story said that Adams “hopes to make a decision in April or May.”

Adams’ official visit to Kansas and other suitors isn’t a surprise, and I still think that Syracuse basketball is one of the favorites for him.

A couple of weeks ago, the Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to Adams’ younger brother, 6-foot-6 small forward Maximo Adams.

Maximo Adams, as a prospect in the 2026 cycle, is presently a freshman in high school. He also goes to Narbonne.

Marcus Adams Jr., meanwhile, received his offer from the ‘Cuse last December. He has the option available to be either a member of the 2023 or the 2024 class.