Syracuse basketball 4-star recruit, Montverde stunned at GEICO Nationals

Syracuse basketball recruiting target Curtis Givens III, unfortunately, will not win a high-school national title.

The 2024 four-star point guard and his teammates at the Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., were upset in the quarterfinal round of the 2023 GEICO Nationals, an eight-squad tournament that will crown a high-school national champion for the 2022-23 season.

Montverde, the No. 1 seed in this year’s GEICO Nationals, lost to the No. 8 seed Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan., by a final count of 46-45 in an affair that was broadcast on ESPNU. A Sunrise Christian player knocked down a 3-pointer with about 23 seconds left in the game to go up by one point.

Montverde had an opportunity to win this contest in the final seconds but was unable to convert in the interior. The Eagles had captured the previous two GEICO Nationals.

Syracuse basketball 2024 four-star target Curtis Givens III played well in a one-point setback.

According to a box score provided by Legit Sport Stats, the 6-foot-3 Givens earned 22 minutes of court time against Sunrise Christian.

He connected on 3-of-4 from the field and 1-of-1 from 3-point land, finishing with seven points. Givens also had two rebounds, two assists, one steal and one turnover.

Sunrise Christian was led by 2023 five-star guard/wing Matas Buzelis, who produced 17 points and hit on 4-of-8 attempts from beyond the arc. Buzelis, who held an Orange scholarship offer, is committed to the NBA’s G-League Ignite.

The 2023 GEICO Nationals are taking place from Thursday, March 30, until Saturday, April 1, at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Ft. Myers, Fla. In the quarterfinal round on Thursday, three of the four games saw the lower-seeded group prevail, and the largest margin of victory was three points.

Besides Sunrise Christian shocking Montverde, the No. 7 seed AZ Compass Prep School in Chandler, Ariz., beat the No. 2 seed Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., 73-71.

The No. 6 seed IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., squeaked by the No. 3 seed Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., 66-63.

And the No. 4 seed Link Academy in Branson, Mo., got past the No. 5 seed St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va., 68-65.

The semifinal match-ups, to air on ESPN2, are on Friday afternoon, with the championship contest occurring on Saturday, April 1, starting at noon on ESPN.

Givens has been a solid role player for a stacked Montverde roster in 2022-23. He transferred there for his junior year after previously competing for the Memphis University School in Memphis, Tenn.

Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to Givens in mid-February, according to his Twitter page. His offer sheet also includes teams such as Memphis, Ole Miss, LSU, Illinois, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Nebraska, Georgetown, St. John’s, Mississippi State, Missouri, Texas A&M, Wake Forest and Xavier.

Givens is a consensus four-star, top-100 national prospect in the 2024 cycle. Several recruiting services rate him in the top 60 overall, as well as a top-10 point guard, in the junior class.