More 5 stars for Syracuse basketball priority target Jalil Bethea, into top 10

As Syracuse basketball 2024 priority recruit Jalil Bethea this week looks to claim a 2023 Peach Jam crown, the five-star guard continues to fly up the charts on a national scale.

The primary recruiting services have updated their national rankings for the rising-senior class of late, and the 6-foot-4 Bethea is now a consensus top-20 overall player in the 2024 cycle.

What’s more, he’s moved to five stars and is inside the top 10 nationally, per ESPN.

Should Jalil Bethea play at a high level at Peach Jam – and part of this event comes during an NCAA live period where college coaches will be in attendance – and in his senior year of high school, I see no reason why he can’t significantly contend for the No. 1 national rating in the 2024 class.

Syracuse basketball priority target Jalil Bethea is perhaps the hottest 2024 prospect out there.

The Orange coaching staff continues to recruit Bethea hard, he has said in numerous recent interviews. The ‘Cuse offered him a scholarship in September of 2022, and he took an official visit to the Hill the following month. Bethea has said he may visit Syracuse basketball again.

He has also officially visited Temple and taken unofficial visits to other schools, such as Villanova. According to media reports and recruiting services, Jalil Bethea plans to officially visit Kansas in late August and LSU in September.

Other big suitors for him include Miami, 2023 national champion UConn and Alabama. Kentucky is also reportedly showing interest in him.

I’ve seen some reports that Bethea may trim his list after Peach Jam is over, and I would expect the ‘Cuse to make the cut.

Bethea had an All-American junior season in the 2022-23 campaign for Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster, Pa. He is one of the standouts on the loaded 17U roster of the Philadelphia-based Team Final, which won the Nike EYBL regular-season title and is a front-runner to capture Peach Jam.

When ESPN updated its 2024 national rankings not too long ago, Bethea was five stars, No. 9 overall, No. 3 at shooting guard and No. 1 in Pennsylvania.

At the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite had him as five stars, No. 20 nationally, No. 3 at shooting guard and No. 1 in Pennsylvania.

In recently updated 2024 ratings, Rivals.com placed Jalil Bethea as five stars and No. 15 nationwide, while he arrived at No. 18 nationwide from 247Sports and No. 14 overall via On3.

Finally, when I penned this piece, the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking rated Bethea as five stars, No. 11 overall, No. 3 at shooting guard and No. 1 in Pennsylvania.