Syracuse Basketball: Four-star big-men recruits earn All-America honors

Two Syracuse basketball priority recruiting targets, one from Washington, D.C., and the other from Philadelphia, have received All-America honors after putting forth strong junior seasons.

Jordan Divens, MaxPreps’ national basketball editor, recently disclosed his 2022-23 All-America teams for the 2024 class. His criteria for inclusion centered on factors such as team success, individual production and other honors received for the recently completed 2022-23 campaign.

Landing honorable-mention nods from Divens are Orange 2024 four-star targets Donnie Freeman and Thomas Sorber.

Freeman, a 6-foot-9 power forward, is out of St. John’s College High School in D.C. and the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league.

Sorber, a 6-foot-9 center, stars for Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia. In grassroots basketball, he competes for the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike’s EYBL league.

Syracuse basketball big-men targets in the junior cycle have picked up All-America honors.

According to Divens, Freeman averaged 16.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in 2022-23. St. John’s College High School went 32-4 overall this past term, won the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (“WCAC”) tournament title, and was nationally ranked for much of 2022-23.

Sorber, meanwhile, tallied 17.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.2 blocks and 2.5 assists per contest for Archbishop Ryan, which sported a 17-11 mark and reached the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (“PIAA”) 5A playoffs.

Freeman is expected to take an official visit to the Hill from April 6 to April 8. He was offered a scholarship by the ‘Cuse in August of 2021.

For his stellar junior term, Freeman was also named to The Washington Post’s All-Met first team and the WCAC All-League first squad. Syracuse basketball, according to recruiting services, appears to have solid momentum with Freeman these days.

His offer sheet also includes LSU, Kansas State, Pittsburgh, Iowa, Texas, Rutgers, Marquette, Bryant, Ole Miss, VCU, Norfolk State, Alabama, Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Xavier, George Mason, and Old Dominion.

Numerous of the primary recruiting services rate Freeman as a top-40 national prospect, a top-10 power forward and the No. 1 prospect in our nation’s capital within the 2024 cycle.

In August of 2022, Sorber acquired a scholarship offer from the Orange, around the time that he competed in the team’s annual Elite Camp. He recently said that he wants to visit Syracuse basketball again, hopefully, on an official visit to the ‘Cuse.

His list of offers is also extensive, including Villanova, Xavier, Miami, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Georgetown, Providence, Mississippi State, Richmond, La Salle, Saint Joseph’s, Bryant, George Mason, Drexel and Albany.

Multiple recruiting Web sites place Sorber as a top-70 national player, a top-10 center and a top-five prospect in Pennsylvania within the junior class.

Last month, new Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry traveled to D.C. to meet with Freeman. Also in March, Orange coaches watched Sorber in person as he suited up in the PIAA 5A tournament.