Syracuse Basketball: Priority target Jalil Bethea soars into top 10 nationally

Syracuse basketball 2024 four-star target Jalil Bethea from the Philadelphia area, who was an All-American as a junior and has crushed the AAU circuit so far this spring, has vaulted into the top 10 across the country in his class.

MADE Hoops recently updated its national rankings for the 2024 cycle, and the 6-foot-4 combo guard moved up eight spots, to No. 10 overall in this class. According to several other recruiting services, Bethea is a top-50 national prospect and a top-10 shooting guard within the 2024 cycle. He can suit up at both point guard and shooting guard.

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For a while now, some national analysts and scouts have said that Jalil Bethea is a significant contender for five-star status in the junior class.

In grassroots basketball, he competes for the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike’s EYBL league. He is also a standout at Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster, Pa., which during the 2022-23 term advanced to the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (“PIAA”) 6A tournament.

Syracuse basketball 2024 four-star recruit Jalil Bethea is a hot prospect in his cycle.

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

Bethea has also officially visited Temple and taken unofficial visits to Penn State and Rutgers. A recent media report stated that Bethea was going on an unofficial visit to Villanova.

Reports have also suggested that Jalil Bethea may be looking to take an official visit to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Miami, which went to the Final Four of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, in the near future.

Throughout his recruiting process, Bethea has received more than 20 offers from a range of high-major programs. Some of his more recent offers have arrived from LSU, Xavier, Kansas, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Georgetown. His offer sheet also includes Miami, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Temple, UCLA, Villanova, VCU, Mississippi State and West Virginia, among others.

In a recent interview that Bethea conducted with scouting service Pro Insight, he said that, lately, he has been hearing the most from Villanova, which won the 2016 and 2018 NCAA Tournaments, and Kansas, which captured the 2022 Big Dance crown.

According to media reports, the Syracuse basketball coaching staff recently made a visit to Jalil Bethea. Orange coaches also watched him in late April during NCAA live periods on the AAU circuit. In March, the ‘Cuse coaching staff was in attendance twice as Bethea suited up in post-season play for Archbishop Wood.

As a junior, Bethea was a star for Archbishop Wood, capturing numerous awards. He was named MVP of the loaded Philadelphia Catholic League. MaxPreps included him on its All-America teams for the 2024 cycle. More recently, Bethea received inclusion on the 2022-23 Pennsylvania Sports Writers’ All-State 6A first team.

From my perspective, Syracuse basketball coaches have made it clear that Jalil Bethea is a top target for the team in its 2024 class. That being said, he has said that he’s in no rush to trim his list of contenders still in the running or, ultimately, make a commitment decision.

Given his fast start this spring in grassroots basketball, I would imagine that the Orange is going to see the competition continue to intensify for Jalil Bethea as the ‘Cuse tries to prevail in his recruitment.