Syracuse Basketball: 4-star PG recruit has scoring explosion at Peach Jam

Syracuse basketball (Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)
Syracuse basketball (Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)

Syracuse basketball 2024 four-star target Mikey Lewis has made some big leaps in the national rankings for his class of late, and he backed up those jumps with an absolute scoring explosion in recent days at the 2023 Peach Jam.

The 6-foot-3 Lewis, a fast-rising point guard in the rising-senior class who received a scholarship offer from Orange coaches in late April, suits up on the AAU circuit for the 17U squad of the Oakland, Calif.-based Oakland Soldiers in Nike’s EYBL league.

From July 3 until July 9, the EYBL held its season-ending Peach Jam tournament at the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta, S.C., with part of this event occurring during an NCAA live period where college coaches could watch recruits in person.

The Oakland Soldiers didn’t qualify for the main Peach Jam playoffs, however, the Soldiers did compete in the Peach Invitational Tournament (PIT), and Lewis was fabulous as his group went 7-2 overall.

Syracuse basketball 2024 target Mikey Lewis, a four-star point guard, is a prolific scorer.

At the PIT, according to the EYBL Web site, Lewis led this tournament in scoring at 23.7 points per game. Over his nine contests, he also logged 27.9 minutes, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per affair, while connecting on 43.6 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 72.1 percent from the free-throw line.

Check out his statistics in the Soldiers’ first game at the PIT. Lewis tallied a ridiculous 40 points and 11 rebounds (um, he’s a point guard!), while hitting on 12-of-21 from the field, 8-of-15 from 3-point land and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Besides that 40-point bomb, at Peach Jam, he collected at least 20 points four more times, and he produced at least 30 points on two other occasions.

The Soldiers reached the championship game of the Peach Invitational Tournament, where they lost, 73-67, to the Los Angeles-based Team Why Not this past Sunday morning. In that contest, Lewis generated 31 minutes, 28 points, five rebounds and two assists.

During the EYBL regular season, which ran from late April to late May, Lewis was equally as excellent, proving one of the top scorers across the entire Nike circuit. He averaged 18.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game, making The Circuit’s All-EYBL second team in regular-season competition.

https://twitter.com/TheCircuit/status/1674516998837923842

As a junior in the 2022-23 campaign, Lewis played at Accelerated Prep in Lakewood, Colo. However, as I’ve noted in several columns lately, he is transferring for his senior year to the powerhouse Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., which was a participant in the prestigious GEICO Nationals this spring.

A consensus top-85 national prospect in the 2024 cycle, Lewis’ offer sheet includes Wichita State, St. Mary’s, LSU, California, TCU, Providence, Arizona State, Colorado State, Illinois, Washington State, San Diego State and Wyoming, among others.

A couple of recent media reports have stated that he is eyeing some official visits in the future, including to Syracuse basketball, along with St. Mary’s, LSU, Illinois and San Diego State, which was the runner-up in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Lewis is rated as high as No. 45 around the country in his class, according to Rivals.com, which also has him as the No. 10 point guard in the 2024 cycle.

Both of the industry-generated rating systems, the 247Sports Composite and the On3 Industry Ranking, have him as a top-65 overall player in the 2024 class, as well as a top-15 guard in this cycle.

I’ll certainly monitor whether Lewis ends up scheduling an official visit to the Hill at some point.