Syracuse basketball 4-star recruit Jalil Bethea in no rush to make decision

Syracuse basketball priority recruit Jalil Bethea from the Philadelphia area has already amassed more than 20 scholarship offers from a range of high-major programs, but the 6-foot-4 combo guard said in a recent interview that he feels like his recruiting process “is just starting to heat up a little bit, so I’m taking my time for now.”

Bethea, a four-star prospect in the junior class who is trending toward five-star status, told Rivals.com analyst Jason Jordan in a recent interview that he doesn’t have a timetable at this juncture for trimming his list of suitors still in the running or, ultimately, making a commitment announcement.

Orange coaches are recruiting Jalil Bethea extremely hard, and ‘Cuse fans are certainly hopeful that Syracuse basketball will be able to land the fast-rising player.

However, it’s understandable that Bethea is keeping his options open and taking his time with his recruitment, given that he’s one of the hottest prospects around the country, regardless of class designation.

Syracuse basketball faces growing competition for 2024 four-star guard Jalil Bethea.

Last weekend, during an NCAA live period on the AAU circuit, Orange head coach Adrian Autry watched Bethea in person as he suited up for the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike’s EYBL league during the EYBL’s first session at the LakePoint Champions Center in Emerson, Ga., according to recruiting analysts and scouts.

In four games, Team Final went 3-1. According to the EYBL Web site, Jalil Bethea averaged 17.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 28.0 minutes per encounter. He hit on 42.0 percent from the field, 29.6 percent from 3-point land and 91.3 percent from the charity stripe.

For his play, the analysts and scouts at The Circuit named Bethea to their All-EYBL second team for this first session.

In addition to Autry watching Jalil Bethea this past weekend in grassroots basketball, last month, Syracuse basketball coaches checked out Bethea twice as he suited up for Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster, Pa., in post-season play.

During the 2022-23 campaign, as a junior, he led Archbishop Wood to the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (“PIAA”) 6A tournament. Jalil Bethea earned numerous awards in 2022-23, getting named an All-American by MaxPreps and also receiving Philadelphia Catholic League MVP honors.

As recruiting services have updated their 2024 national rankings, Bethea has soared into the top 40. MADE Hoops recently put him at No. 18 overall within the junior cycle. He’s headed toward five stars, in my humble opinion.

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

Besides Syracuse basketball, Bethea’s offer sheet includes Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Miami, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Temple, UCLA, Villanova, VCU, Mississippi State and West Virginia, among others.

Jalil Bethea has taken official visits to the ‘Cuse and Temple. He has unofficially visited Penn State and Rutgers. College basketball insider Adam Zagoria said that Bethea had planned to take an unofficial visit to Villanova this past Monday.

Jordan’s article says that Jalil Bethea is eyeing a visit to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Miami in the near future.