Syracuse Basketball: Preseason top 25 features Melo’s son, 4-star commit

As we look ahead to the 2023-24 term, multiple Syracuse basketball recruiting targets will be suiting up on teams that are ranked in a way-too-early top 25 for the next season.

Jordan Divens, the national basketball editor of MaxPreps, recently disclosed an early preseason top 25 for the 2023-24 stanza.

In these rankings from Divens, Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., checks in at No. 3, St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., is No. 11, Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, N.Y., is No. 14, and Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, N.Y., is No. 18.

One of the stars for Cardinal Hayes is Syracuse basketball 2024 commit Elijah Moore, a four-star shooting guard who verbally committed to the Orange this past January.

The 6-foot-4 Moore, per several recruiting services, is a top-75 national prospect and a top-20 shooting guard within the junior class. In 2022-23, Cardinal Hayes won the New York “AA” Archdiocesan tournament title.

Syracuse basketball targets are highly rated in preseason team rankings.

Kiyan Anthony, a 2025 four-star shooting guard and the son of ‘Cuse legend Carmelo Anthony, will be a junior at Long Island Lutheran in 2023-24. The 6-foot-3 Kiyan Anthony was offered by the Orange last November and is rated in the top 70 by several recruiting services.

This past season, Long Island Lutheran was one of the best squads in the loaded National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (“NIBC”), and it received an invite to the 2023 GEICO Nationals.

St. John’s College High School was a top-20 team for a large portion of the 2022-23 stanza, winning the 2023 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (“WCAC”) tournament title.

A standout for St. John’s College High School is Syracuse basketball 2024 four-star priority recruit Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9 power forward who was offered by the ‘Cuse in August of 2021. Not too long ago, Freeman made an official visit to the Hill.

Archbishop Stepinac, in 2022-23, won the New York Catholic High School Athletic Association (“CHSAA”) “AA” intersectional title and finished runner-up in New York state’s 2023 Class AA Tournament of Champions event.

Boogie Fland, a 2024 five-star point guard, was an All-American this past season as a junior for Archbishop Stepinac. He landed an Orange scholarship offer last January.

The 6-foot-3 Fland holds a ton of offers, including from multiple blue-blood teams, and he said in a recent interview that he is keeping an eye on how Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry and his assistants do this year.