Syracuse Basketball: Priority recruit Jalil Bethea is trending toward 5 stars

Jalil Bethea, a high-priority recruiting target for the Syracuse basketball coaching staff out of the Philadelphia area, recently made one of the largest leaps nationwide in updated 2024 rankings from one of the primary recruiting services.

The 6-foot-4 point guard/shooting guard, who has put forth a stellar junior year for Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster, Pa., is a four-star prospect per most recruiting Web sites.

But I’ve seen several experts note of late that Jalil Bethea could move toward five-star status, especially if he performs well in the spring and summer months on the AAU circuit.

In grassroots basketball, he has been a member of the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike’s EYBL league.

Syracuse basketball coaches are recruiting four-star Jalil Bethea hard.

On Saturday, March 18, beginning at 1 pm, Archbishop Wood will face Coatesville Area Senior High School out of Coatesville, Pa., in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (“PIAA”) 6A tournament.

Last weekend, new Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry along with assistants Gerry McNamara and Allen Griffin watched Jalil Bethea in person at a first-round game of the PIAA 6A playoffs.

Bethea, as we noted in another recent column, was named MVP of the loaded Philadelphia Catholic League, which features some of the best high-school players around the country. He also made the Philadelphia Catholic League’s All-Catholic first team for the 2022-23 term.

Bethea has said in interviews that he has a strong relationship with the ‘Cuse coaching staff, led by assistant coach McNamara, who this week was promoted to associate head coach of the Orange.

In late September of 2022, Syracuse basketball offered a scholarship to Jalil Bethea. The following month, he took an official visit to the Hill.

Bethea’s offer sheet has grown to more than 20, so competition for him is steep. That being said, I do think the ‘Cuse has a good shot at prevailing for Jalil Bethea.

With long-time head coach Jim Boeheim gone, it was a smart move for the “new” Syracuse basketball coaching staff to watch Bethea last Saturday.

Perhaps Orange coaches may try to get him on campus for another visit in the future.

When Rivals.com updated its 2024 national rankings not too long ago, Bethea skyrocketed from No. 80 to No. 39 overall.

At the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed him at No. 59 nationally, No. 11 at shooting guard and No. 3 in Pennsylvania.

The industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, meanwhile, put Bethea at No. 57 overall, No. 16 at shooting guard and No. 3 in Pennsylvania.

"In a recent piece, Rivals.com national analyst Rob Cassidy wrote in part that “Bethea has the length, shooting stroke and court vision to flirt with five-star status if he continues on his recent trajectory, which has seen him take massive steps forward as a junior at Pennsylvania’s Archbishop Wood.”"