Syracuse Basketball: Priority recruit Jalil Bethea vaults to 5 stars, top 15

As national analysts and scouts have prognosticated about for a while now, Syracuse basketball 2024 priority recruit Jalil Bethea has moved to five-star status in the rising-senior class.

The 6-foot-4 guard, perhaps the top target for the Orange coaching staff in this cycle, jumped to five stars and No. 15 across the country, according to updated national rankings released by Rivals.com on Tuesday.

Previously, Rivals.com had him at No. 39 overall in the 2024 class. Thus, in this update, Bethea had one of the largest leaps nationwide, increasing his position by 24 placements.

In recent months, as Jalil Bethea received All-America honors in his junior year and has starred in grassroots basketball, recruiting experts opined that he would significantly contend for five stars as recruiting services refreshed their 2024 national ratings.

Syracuse basketball priority target Jalil Bethea is a five-star player in his class.

Several other recruiting services have updated their 2024 national rankings of late. Over at 247Sports, Bethea arrived at No. 18 overall, No. 4 at shooting guard and No. 1 in Pennsylvania.

And when On3 updated its 2024 ratings, Jalil Bethea was No. 14 nationwide, No. 4 at shooting guard and No. 1 in Pennsylvania.

When I penned this column, he checked in at No. 19 overall via the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, along with No. 6 at shooting guard and No. 1 in Pennsylvania.

At the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite had Jalil Bethea at No. 29 nationally, No. 5 at shooting guard and No. 1 in Pennsylvania.

Last weekend, Syracuse basketball coaches reportedly were in attendance when Bethea played at a high level during an NCAA live period at a well-known event called Philly Live.

He was an All-American as a junior during the 2022-23 season for Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster, Pa. Jalil Bethea is also a standout for the Philadelphia-based Team Final (17U), which late last month won the Nike EYBL regular-season championship. Team Final will be one of the favorites to cut down the nets at the prestigious Peach Jam, which takes place in early July.

His offer sheet includes Alabama, UConn, Georgia Tech, LSU, Xavier, Kansas, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, Miami, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Temple, UCLA, Villanova, VCU, Mississippi State and West Virginia, among others.

Recent media reports have suggested that Jalil Bethea may be eyeing official visits to several schools, including Miami, Kansas and Alabama. College basketball insider Adam Zagoria said via Twitter that Bethea planned to take an unofficial visit to Villanova on Wednesday.

Kentucky is showing interest in him as well. Should the Wildcats offer a scholarship to Bethea, that would prove a big challenge for Syracuse basketball coaches to overcome.

That being said, Bethea has said on numerous occasions that he has forged a strong relationship with the Orange coaching staff, and the ‘Cuse has prioritized him for a long time. Syracuse basketball offered Jalil Bethea in September of 2022, he officially visited the Hill the following month, and he has said he may visit the Orange again.