Syracuse Basketball: Which prospects, teams did SU watch in live period?

Syracuse basketball coaches checked out a variety of prospects and teams on the AAU circuit during an NCAA live period last weekend, according to recruiting analysts and scouts.

Based on media reports and commentary from recruiting experts on social media, it does appear the Orange coaching staff was fairly active this past weekend in watching targets on several different shoe-sponsored circuits.

I’m going to share some of the players and AAU squads that the ‘Cuse was in the house for, but I want to caution this isn’t necessarily a comprehensive list.

In any event, I do find it encouraging that head coach Adrian Autry and his assistants have been hitting the recruiting trail hard ever since Autry was named the new boss on the Hill last month, replacing Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.

Syracuse basketball looked at numerous recruits last weekend during an AAU live period.

Autry was at the Iowa West Fieldhouse in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to watch 2024 commit Elijah Moore, a four-star shooting guard from New York City. The 6-foot-4 Moore, who played quite well last weeked per recruiting analysts and scouts, is a standout for the Bronx, N.Y.-based Wiz Kids in the Adidas 3SSB league.

The Syracuse basketball head coach and new assistant coach Brenden Straughn both watched 2024 four-star priority recruit Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9 power forward out of Washington, D.C., who took an official visit to the Hill not too long ago.

Freeman is a star for the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league, an AAU program where both Autry and Straughn previously served as assistant coaches. Last weekend, Team Takeover competed in EYBL contests at the LakePoint Champions Center in Emerson, Ga.

Also on the EYBL circuit, Autry was in the house for the Philadelphia-based Team Final. Team Final’s roster includes two 2024 four-star players who hold Syracuse basketball scholarship offers, 6-foot-4 combo guard Jalil Bethea and 6-foot-9 center Thomas Sorber.

Last month, ‘Cuse coaches also watched Bethea and Sorber in person as they suited up for their respective high schools in the Philadelphia area during Pennsylvania post-season tournaments.

Bethea took an official visit to Syracuse basketball last fall, while a recent article stated that Sorber wants to make a trip to the Orange campus.

Per several tweets, the ‘Cuse coaching staff also checked in on games involving the Team Takeover 16U and 15U squads (Freeman plays for Team Takeover’s 17U division).

The Orange also watched the Oakland, Calif.-based Oakland Soldiers in the EYBL league. A standout for this program is 2024 four-star point guard Mikey Lewis, who received a scholarship offer from Straughn a few days ago.

Other AAU teams that Syracuse basketball coaches reportedly watched, and those games in some instances also involved Orange priority targets, included the Phoenix-based Arizona Unity, the Oxon Hill, Md.-based Team Durant, the Albany City Rocks, the New York City-based NY Renaissance and the Boston-based Expressions Elite.

All of those groups compete in Nike’s EYBL league.