Syracuse Basketball: 5-star Jalil Bethea has top 6, including SU, per report

A published report on Friday says that Syracuse basketball 2024 five-star priority recruit Jalil Bethea from the Philadelphia area has a final list of six contenders, and the Orange is one of them.

Joseph Santoliquito wrote a truly eye-opening article on the 6-foot-4 guard that came out on Friday via the cityofbasketballlove.com. I highly, highly recommend reading this piece, as it sheds light on Bethea, his family, his play for his school, and his recruitment.

"Within the story, Santoliquito writes that Bethea “lists Syracuse, Miami, Kansas, Villanova, UConn and Alabama as his final six schools among more than 30 of the nation’s top programs that have offered him a scholarship.”"

It’s not surprising that Jalil Bethea, a consensus top-20 national prospect in the rising-senior cycle, has the ‘Cuse in his top six. Syracuse basketball coaches have prioritized this fast-rising player for a long time, and Bethea has spoken highly of his relationship with the Orange coaching staff in numerous recent interviews.

Syracuse basketball is in the final six of 2024 five-star guard Jalil Bethea.

Over the course of his recruiting process, Bethea has picked up offers from a wide range of high-major programs, including Alabama, 2023 national champion UConn, Georgia Tech, LSU, Xavier, 2022 national champ 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.

Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to Jalil Bethea in September of 2022. The following month, he took an official visit to the Hill. He has said recently that he may take another trip to the ‘Cuse, and that his relationship continues to grow with Orange first-year head coach Adrian Autry and his assistants.

To date, Bethea has officially visited Syracuse basketball and Temple. He plans to make an official visit to Kansas on August 31, per a recent story from On3 national analyst Jamie Shaw.

In that piece from Shaw, Jalil Bethea noted that he is talking with Miami about a visit to the Hurricanes, and he may go on another visit to the ‘Cuse and also potentially to Alabama.

Villanova, which won national titles in 2016 and 2018, is a hometown team for Bethea, while UConn won the most recent NCAA Tournament. So the competition for Syracuse basketball to prevail for Jalil Bethea is steep.

I have yet to see an analyst prediction in his recruitment on the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com or the On3 Web site. I am not plugged into his recruitment, but if I have to guess, I would view the Orange as the front-runner for Jalil Bethea at the moment, with Kansas and Miami right behind the ‘Cuse.

Bethea is a standout rising senior at Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster, Pa. As a junior in the 2022-23 season for Archbishop Wood, he received All-America honors and was also named MVP of the loaded Philadelphia Catholic League.

This spring and summer, Bethea has proven one of the hottest prospects nationwide due to his performances on the AAU circuit as a member of the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike’s EYBL league.

Bethea, who has secured a lot of honors in grassroots basketball of late, helped guide Team Final to the EYBL’s 17U regular-season title as well as a quarterfinal appearance at the recently held Peach Jam.

Recently, ESPN vaulted Jalil Bethea inside the top 10 overall of the 2024 class. I’m not a recruiting analyst or a scout, but I think he’s a solid contender to make a run at the No. 1 national ranking in his cycle.

For Syracuse basketball to make his top six is encouraging, but what would be even better is if the Orange coaching staff can seal the deal and land a commitment from Bethea down the line.

The ‘Cuse already has two four-star verbal commitments in its 2024 class – as well as a top 10 national rating – and should Jalil Bethea ultimately pledge to the Orange, the Syracuse basketball rising-senior cycle would likely jump into the top five around the country.