Syracuse basketball commit J.J. Starling is top-ranked transfer nationwide

Last week, a national recruiting analyst rated Syracuse basketball commit  J.J. Starling as the No. 2 transfer across the country.

On Sunday, two national recruiting experts did the Central New York native one better, listing the 6-foot-4 Starling as the top-ranked transfer around the entire country.

That’s awesome. Naturally, games are played on the court, so these ratings won’t mean much at all once the 2023-24 season begins later this year for the Orange.

However, I can’t stress how huge of a recruiting win it was for the ‘Cuse, and its new head coach Adrian Autry, to land a commitment from J.J. Starling not too long ago.

The former five-star guard in the 2022 class recently said that he would transfer after a solid freshman season at Notre Dame to the ‘Cuse. And in interviews, Starling noted his strong relationship with Autry as a big reason why he’s coming home to the Hill.

Syracuse basketball commit J.J. Starling is the No. 1 transfer nationally at this juncture.

On Sunday, Rivals.com national analysts Rob Cassidy and Travis Graf released their initial list of the top-30 college players who had entered their name into the NCAA’s transfer portal through this past Saturday.

Rivals.com has J.J. Starling at No. 1 nationwide. Last Wednesday, 247Sports national analyst Travis Branham placed Starling at No. 2 overall in his initial top-25 rankings of the best transfers out there right now.

Of course, these sorts of rankings from 247Sports, Rivals.com and other recruiting Web sites will ebb and flow as more collegiate players hit the portal. But for now, it’s exciting to see J.J. Starling as the top-rated transfer in Division I men’s hoops, at least according to Rivals.com.

Starling averaged 11.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game for the Fighting Irish in 2022-23, when Notre Dame went a sub-par 11-21 overall and long-time head coach Mike Brey decided to move on.

While he does need to improve his shooting percentages when suiting up as a sophomore for Syracuse basketball, there’s no denying that J.J. Starling is a talented player with loads of potential. He was on the Atlantic Coast Conference’s All-Freshman team for the 2022-23 campaign.

So, too, was Orange freshman point guard Judah Mintz, who recently said he would test the 2023 NBA Draft waters while maintaining his collegiate eligibility.

If Mintz does come back, then he and Starling should prove a terrific ACC backcourt. Should Mintz stay in the 2023 NBA Draft, well, then the ‘Cuse picking up J.J. Starling becomes even more of a massive development for the team’s 2023-24 roster.

Starling, a star for Baker High School in Baldwinsville, N.Y., before competing in his junior and senior seasons for the powerhouse La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind., isn’t the only familiar name in the Rivals.com top-30 transfer ratings.

Checking in at No. 3 is Khalif Battle, the younger brother of former Syracuse basketball star Tyus Battle. The 6-foot-5 Khalif Battle, who held a ‘Cuse scholarship offer in high school, is a prolific-scoring guard who averaged nearly 18 points per encounter in 2022-23 for Temple as a redshirt sophomore.

The Rivals.com analysts have put Orange senior shooting guard Joe Girard III at No. 9. A few days ago, the 6-foot-1 Girard said that he would test the 2023 NBA Draft waters, maintain his collegiate eligibility, and enter his name into the transfer portal.

Girard, a top 20 all-time scorer in the history of the ‘Cuse program, averaged 16.4 points per affair in 2022-23 while connecting on a strong 38.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Already, per reports from recruiting analysts and others, Girard is hearing from a boatload of schools since heading into the transfer portal.