Syracuse Basketball: West-coast recruit, nearing 5 stars, transfers schools

Four-star small forward Maximo Adams, a top-25 national prospect in the 2026 class who was offered by Syracuse basketball earlier this year, is transferring to a new school within the Golden State.

The 6-foot-6 Adams, whom experts say can make a run at five-star status in the rising-sophomore class, recently said on Twitter that he has moved to Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, Calif., for the upcoming 2023-24 campaign.

According to the MaxPreps Web site, the Cavaliers went 9-19 overall in the 2022-23 term. Per Serra’s Twitter page, it has won a couple of state titles along with numerous California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championships.

Adams put forth a strong freshman season in 2022-23 while playing for Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles. MaxPreps says that he averaged nearly 11 points per game for Narbonne a season ago.

Syracuse basketball offered a scholarship to 2026 four-star SF Maximo Adams this past February.

Last month, Adams was among the leading scorers in the 15U division as he competed for the Los Angeles-based Team Why Not during the Nike EYBL league’s annual Peach Jam tournament in North Augusta, S.C.

Over four contests at Peach Jam, he averaged 17.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while connecting on 57.8 percent from the field. Multiple national analysts and scouts gave Adams high marks for his play at Peach Jam.

While his recruiting process likely has a way to go, Adams’ list of scholarship offers is already nearing 20. His full offer sheet includes West Virginia, Missouri, Kansas, BYU, Kansas State, St. John’s, Texas, Xavier, Oregon, TCU and Mississippi State, among others.

Rob Cassidy, a national analyst with Rivals.com, recently said that Adams “has all the tools to make a bid for five-star status if his perimeter game develops.”

Although many of the primary recruiting services haven’t yet unveiled their first set of national rankings for the 2026 class, ESPN rates Adams as four stars, No. 25 overall, No. 7 at power forward and No. 5 in California.

Syracuse basketball coaches have offered scholarships to at least two 2026 prospects. One is Adams, and the second is five-star shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr. The 6-foot-3 Smith, offered by the ‘Cuse in early May, attends St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va., and competes for the Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover on the EYBL circuit.

I assume that Syracuse basketball coaches are looking at other 2026 players as well. For one, 2026 five-star shooting guard/small forward Adam Oumiddoch said in a recent interview with scouting service Pro Insight that the ‘Cuse is on his radar.

The 6-foot-6 Oumiddoch is with the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite. He played the most recent grassroots basketball season with the 15U group of the Baltimore-based Team Melo in the EYBL league.

Maximo Adams, by the way, is one of multiple Orange recruiting targets in recent months who have transferred to new high-school programs for 2023-24.

Others include 2025 four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony (Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y.), 2025 five-star point guard Jerry Easter II (the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind.), 2025 four-star combo guard Darius Adams (La Lumiere), 2025 four-star big man Nikola Bundalo (the Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio), and 2025 five-star shooting guard Darryn Peterson (Huntington Expression Prep in Huntington, W.Va.).