New Syracuse basketball 4-star target from D.C. interested in visiting ‘Cuse

New Syracuse basketball 2025 four-star recruiting target Derek Dixon from Washington, D.C., is interested in taking a visit to the Hill in the future, according to multiple media reports.

The Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to him on June 15, on the same day that the contact period opened up for the rising-junior class, enabling college coaches to initiate direct communication with 2025 players.

Dixon is a 6-foot-4 combo guard and a top-100 national prospect in this cycle, according to several recruiting services. He suits up for one of the best teams in D.C., Gonzaga College High School, which is a member of the loaded Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

On the AAU circuit, Dixon competes for the 16U squad of the Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league. There are a lot of strong connections between the ‘Cuse coaching staff and Team Takeover, as I’ve outlined many times.

Syracuse basketball could get a visit from 2025 four-star combo guard Derek Dixon at some point.

When the contact period opened up on June 15, Dixon says the first call that he received was from Orange assistant coach Brenden Straughn, who offered him a scholarship, according to a recent article from recruiting analyst Charles Kang of The Juice Online.

Besides Syracuse basketball, Dixon’s offer sheet includes Xavier, Penn State, Maryland, Providence, Saint Joseph’s, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Kansas State, Bryant, George Mason, Fordham, East Carolina and Norfolk State.

Dixon told Kang that there is “mutual interest” in Dixon heading to Central New York in the future for a visit, although nothing has been finalized at this juncture.

Numerous other schools have reached out to Dixon since June 15, including Marquette, Notre Dame, Virginia, Arizona and Indiana, among others, according to recruiting analysts and scouts.

This week, Team Takeover’s 16U group will be competing in the Nike EYBL’s annual Peach Jam tournament, which runs July 3 to July 9 at the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta, S.C.

In May, 2024 four-star power forward Donnie Freeman verbally committed to the Orange, and he is one of the standouts for Team Takeover’s 17U squad. Both Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry and Straughn served as assistant coaches with the Team Takeover program a while back.

Several recruiting services rate Dixon as four stars and inside the top 100 of the 2025 cycle. Rivals.com has him at No. 91 overall. Via 247Sports, he checks in at No. 92 nationally.

When I penned this column, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed Dixon at No. 88 nationwide, No. 13 at combo guard and No. 4 in D.C. within the 2025 class.

I’ll continue to monitor Dixon’s recruiting process, and I’m hoping he will end up officially visiting Syracuse basketball down the line.