Syracuse Basketball: New 5-star recruit eyeing visits to blue-blood teams

Syracuse basketball (Syndication: Akron Beacon Journal)
Syracuse basketball (Syndication: Akron Beacon Journal)

New Syracuse basketball 2025 five-star target Darryn Peterson had a monster outing on Saturday amid a live period this weekend on the AAU circuit, and comments from a national recruiting expert suggest that the top-five overall player is looking to visit some blue-blood programs in the near future.

The 6-foot-5 Peterson, one of at least eight prospects in the sophomore cycle to have received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse at this juncture, is an elite shooting guard from Ohio who should significantly contend for the No. 1 national ranking in the 2025 class.

Syracuse basketball coaches, just a few days ago, offered a scholarship to Peterson, according to a tweet from high-school hoops analyst Alex Karamanos.

Peterson, during the 2022-23 season for the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, averaged 31 points, nine rebounds and three steals per game. MaxPreps named him a 2022-23 first-team All-American within the 2025 cycle.

Syracuse basketball faces an uphill battle to prevail for five-star sophomore shooting guard Darryn Peterson.

This weekend is the second NCAA live period during April on the AAU circuit. In grassroots basketball, Peterson competes for Team Phenom United in the 16U division of the Adidas 3SSB league.

On Saturday, per a tweet from MADE Hoops scouting analyst Travis Graf, Peterson tallied a ridiculous 46 points in one game.

According to recruiting experts, numerous college coaches are watching Peterson in person as the Adidas league holds this second April live-period session at the Legends Event Center in Bryan, Texas.

Per 247Sports national analyst Brandon Jenkins, coaches from Duke, Kansas State, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina and UCLA have checked out Peterson.

Joe Tipton, a national analyst with On3, added that coaches from Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Miami and others have also been in attendance for Peterson.

Graf, in his tweet on Saturday, reported that Peterson is “eyeing UNC, Kansas (and) Kentucky visits in the very near future.” Those are some big-time suitors, obviously.

Beyond Syracuse basketball, according to recruiting Web sites, Peterson’s offer sheet includes Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Indiana, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, St. John’s, Texas, West Virginia, Xavier, Alabama, Cincinnati, Illinois, Kansas State, Michigan, TCU, Texas A&M and Washington State, among others.

All of the primary recruiting services rate Peterson as a top-10 national player in the sophomore cycle, and several recruiting Web sites have him in the top five overall across the country.

At this point, as I noted earlier, Syracuse basketball coaches have offered eight 2025 prospects, at least as far as I can tell. They are Peterson, four-star forward Sadiq White, four-star wing Cam Ward, four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony, five-star combo guard Darius Adams, four-star point guard Jerry Easter II, four-star wing Efeosa Oliogu and four-star wing Brandon Stores Jr.