Syracuse Basketball: Why 5-star Jalil Bethea officially visiting again is huge

Elite guard Jalil Bethea, a 2024 five-star prospect, recently disclosed a top five that includes Syracuse basketball, and several media reports indicate that he plans to take a second official visit to the Hill in mid-September.

The 6-foot-4 guard, a consensus top-20 overall player in his class, has revealed a top five of Alabama, Kansas, Miami, the ‘Cuse and Villanova, as first reported by On3 national analyst Joe Tipton earlier this week.

Reports say that Jalil Bethea has scheduled official visits to Kansas on August 31, Miami on September 8 and Alabama on October 23.

Additionally, he plans to take a second official visit to Syracuse basketball during the weekend of September 15, per an article from SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister and a tweet from college basketball insider Adam Zagoria.

The Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to Bethea in September of 2022, and he took his first official visit to the ‘Cuse the following month.

Syracuse basketball has scored a second official visit from 2024 five-star guard Jalil Bethea.

A standout All-American for Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster, Pa., as well as the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike’s EYBL league, Bethea continues to say in interviews that he has forged a strong relationship with Orange coaches.

In fact, I’ve come across at least one interview where he said that his relationship with the ‘Cuse coaching staff has grown even more since Adrian Autry took over as the team’s head coach this past March, when he replaced the legendary Hall of Famer, Jim Boeheim.

Bethea had recently suggested that he might take a second official visit to Central New York, to check out an Orange practice under new head coach Autry and his staff.

That Jalil Bethea has elected to officially visit the ‘Cuse again in mid-September, to me, is vastly important for a couple of reasons. Number one, it’s imperative that he makes a trip to the Hill to view a team practice with Autry at the helm, while also meeting with the rest of his assistants and members of the Syracuse basketball 2023-24 roster.

Also, with Bethea having scheduled official visits to Kansas, Miami and Alabama (he has previously taken at least one unofficial visit to Villanova, a hometown team, per reports and recruiting services), from momentum and optics standpoints, it’s encouraging that the Orange has landed an official visit of its own.

While Syracuse basketball is the only one of his five finalists that had a head-coaching change this off-season, it’s also worth noting that the ‘Cuse, at present, is the only school that will have hosted Jalil Bethea on two official visits.

Plus, his last official visit to the Orange was a long time ago, so I believe having him on the SU campus to watch practice, meet with the new coaching staff and Orange players, and continue to bond with the entire program, gives the ‘Cuse an opportunity to keep everything fresh in Bethea’s mind about Syracuse basketball.

To date, I haven’t come across any analyst predictions in his recruitment on the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com or the On3 Web site. Since he’s taking numerous official visits this fall, and then with his high-school senior season commencing, it could be several more months before Jalil Bethea makes a college decision.

I credit the Orange coaching staff for doing everything possible to prevail in his recruiting process. Landing a second official visit from Bethea is a positive step, and Syracuse basketball appears every bit a significant contender for this supremely talented player from the Philadelphia area.