Syracuse Basketball: 4-star, 5-star recruits have transferred to prep giants

This coming high-school season, several Syracuse basketball targets will suit up for different teams than a season ago, and these new homes include some of the country’s top prep programs.

These Orange recruits, all of whom hold scholarship offers from the ‘Cuse coaching staff, are within the 2024 and 2025 classes. They are all either four-star or five-star prospects.

One of those Syracuse basketball recruits who will have a new high-school base in the 2023-24 campaign is Kiyan Anthony, who is the son of Orange legend and recently retired NBA star Carmelo Anthony.

But Kiyan Anthony isn’t the only ‘Cuse target who has found a new high-school squad in recent months for the 2023-24 term.

Syracuse basketball recruits have headed to some of the nation’s top prep teams.

I’m aware of at least four other Orange targets, beyond Kiyan Anthony, who will play for new high-school squads in the upcoming stanza. Those other four are Jerry Easter II, Nikola Bundalo, Mikey Lewis and Darius Adams. Let’s provide a little context for all five Syracuse basketball recruits.

Kiyan Anthony
The 6-foot-5 Anthony, a 2025 four-star shooting guard who has vaulted inside the top 40 nationwide in his class, received a ‘Cuse offer last November. He has said in recent interviews that he plans to officially visit the Hill at some point in the near future.

After spending his sophomore year at Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village, N.Y., Anthony said last February that he would transfer for his junior season in 2023-24 to the powerhouse Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y.

His new school, the Crusaders, was a top-five team in 2022-23, earning a berth in this spring’s GEICO Nationals. Looking ahead to 2023-24, Long Island Lutheran is forecast as a preseason top-five squad that will significantly contend for a high-school national championship.

The Crusaders compete in the loaded 10-team National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (“NIBC”), arguably the best high-school hoops league around the country.

Jerry Easter II
The 6-foot-4 Easter, a 2025 five-star point guard and a top-25 national prospect in the rising-junior class, was offered by the ‘Cuse in July of 2022. He has said that he may take a visit to the Orange at some point.

Easter, a prolific scorer, received All-America honors as both a freshman and a sophomore starring for the Emmanuel Christian School in Toledo, Ohio. However, in June, word came out that he is transferring to the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind., another NIBC member, for his junior term.

La Lumiere is often a contender for the GEICO Nationals. A season ago, the Lakers went 18-10 and finished at No. 8 nationwide in one set of rankings from MaxPreps.

Darius Adams
Joining Easter in the La Lumiere backcourt during the 2023-24 season is the 6-foot-3 Adams, a 2025 four-star combo guard who picked up a ‘Cuse offer in late August of 2022, when he attended the team’s annual Elite Camp.

Earlier this month, it was disclosed that Adams, a top-25 overall player in his cycle, would move to the Lakers after earning All-America honors in his sophomore year as a standout for Manasquan High School in Manasquan, N.J., which he led to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (“NJSIAA”) Group 2 tournament championship in 2022-23.

Easter and Adams should form a dynamic backcourt this coming term for La Lumiere, which is also the former home of Syracuse basketball sophomore guard J.J. Starling, a Central New York native who transferred to the ‘Cuse from Notre Dame this off-season.

Nikola Bundalo
The 6-foot-9 power forward, offered by Syracuse basketball in May, is one of the fastest-rising prospects in the 2025 class. The four-star Bundalo recently jumped into the top-25 overall via 247Sports, after not previously being ranked by the primary recruiting services.

Bundalo, who could make a push for five-star status in this cycle, will spend his junior season at the Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, per a recent article from recruiting analyst Jake Weingarten, the founder of Stockrisers.com. As a sophomore in 2022-23, Bundalo played at Green High School in Uniontown, Ohio.

In 2023-24, Bundalo will compete alongside Rochester, N.Y., native Damarius Owens, a former Orange recruiting target. Owens, a 2024 four-star small forward, is verbally committed to Marquette.

Trey Autry, the son of Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry who is an incoming freshman at George Washington, also played at the Western Reserve Academy.

Mikey Lewis
In mid-June, news broke that the 6-foot-3 Lewis, a 2024 four-star point guard, would play as a senior in 2023-24 at the juggernaut Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif. He was at Accelerated Prep in Lakewood, Colo., during the 2022-23 season.

The Orange coaching staff offered Lewis in late April. Numerous reports of late have suggested that Lewis may take an official visit to the ‘Cuse in the future.

Prolific Prep was one of the best high-school teams nationwide last season, going 35-2 overall and reaching the 2023 GEICO Nationals. At the end of 2022-23, MaxPreps placed Prolific Prep at No. 6 across the country in one set of national rankings from this media outlet.

Ahead of 2023-24, Prolific Prep has absolutely reloaded, adding Lewis and several other highly rated prospects.