Syracuse Basketball: 4-star PG, nearing 5 stars, ‘loves’ Orange, eyes visit

Syracuse basketball 2025 four-star target Jerry Easter II from Ohio, an All-American in high school as both a freshman and a sophomore, has put forth some strong performances so far this spring on the AAU circuit.

The 6-foot-4 point guard, who recently vaulted into the top 25 across the country in his class, has spoken highly of the Orange program since receiving a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse coaching staff last summer.

He also has some interesting connections to Syracuse basketball. For one, his dad, Jerry Easter Sr., is close friends with Orange hoops legend Derrick Coleman, as I’ve noted in the past.

According to an interview that Easter Sr. recently conducted with SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister, Jerry Easter II is also good friends with 2025 four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony from New York City.

The 6-foot-5 Anthony, the son of ‘Cuse legend and long-time NBA star Carmelo Anthony, received a scholarship offer from the Orange last November. Both Kiyan Anthony and Jerry Easter II appear to be priority recruits for Syracuse basketball coaches in the sophomore cycle.

Syracuse basketball faces intense competition for 2025 four-star point guard Jerry Easter II.

Easter is a consensus top-50 national prospect in the 2025 class. He’s a top-five point guard, per several recruiting services. ESPN, when it recently updated its national ratings for this cycle, placed Easter at No. 22 overall, just a few spots away from five-star status.

As both a freshman and a sophomore at the Emmanuel Christian School in Toledo, Ohio, Easter earned All-America honors. A recent media report says he’s planning to attend another school for the 2023-24 campaign, likely in the loaded 10-member National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (“NIBC”).

In grassroots basketball this spring and summer, Easter is playing up a division for the 17U team of the Columbus, Ohio-based All Ohio Red in Nike’s EYBL league.

This past weekend, as the EYBL held its third spring session at the Southwest Athletic Center in Carrollton, Texas, Easter struggled with his shot. However, during two sessions in late April amid NCAA live periods, Easter was terrific, earning a flood of high praise from national recruiting analysts and scouts.

Come mid-June, college coaches will be able to initiate direct communication with 2025 prospects. While Easter already has secured more than 20 scholarship offers, I’m confident that his offer sheet will even further balloon once the contact period opens up.

To date, his offer list, besides the Orange, includes St. John’s, Illinois, Southern California, Louisville, Memphis, Michigan State, Ohio State, Mississippi State, Mike Hopkins-led Washington, UCLA, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Arizona State, Missouri, New Mexico State, Bowling Green, Morgan State, Northern Illinois, Oakland, Toledo and Cleveland State.

Easter’s dad says that his son may soon get offers from other squads such as Kentucky, LSU, Florida State and Marquette.

Easter Sr. says that when Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to his son, Jerry Easter II was “blown away,” adding, “It was awesome. I love Syracuse, he loves Syracuse. One of my best friends, who is like Jerry’s uncle, is Derrick Coleman.”

This summer, as Jerry Easter II continues to play grassroots basketball, he is planning to take some campus visits, including to the Hill. Easter Sr. says that his son “was kind of disappointed” when Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim retired as the Orange’s long-time head coach, but they remain in communication with associate head coach Gerry McNamara.

Easter Sr. added that his son “still loves the tradition (at Syracuse). It’s good basketball and he likes that.”

Come July 1 of this year, the NCAA will allow prospects an unlimited number of official visits, so I am hopeful that Jerry Easter II will take a trip to Central New York at some point in the future.

In a recent interview with scouting service Pro Insight, Easter says that he wants college coaches to know that he plays hard all the time, always going at 100 percent, and his focus is on facilitating for others and making his teammates better.

As a point guard, he wants to use his court vision to get others in a position to score, but Easter is also a prolific scorer who can produce from beyond the arc, in the mid-range, and near the rim.

What I enjoyed the most from his interview with Pro Insight is that Easter says where he excels the most is on the defensive end, and he’s able to effectively guard opponents at numerous positions, not just the point-guard spot.

I’ve been super high on Easter ever since he got an Orange offer last July. He’s a tremendous scorer who also is highly skilled at distributing to others and getting after it defensively.

Additionally, I’ve read a slew of articles about him, and interviews that he’s given, and Jerry appears to be a hard-working, confident, appreciative and humble young man.