New Syracuse basketball 4-star target is top-40 national player, top-10 SG

Syracuse basketball coaches have officially entered the recruitment of a 2025 four-star shooting guard from Ohio.

Recently, four-star junior Dorian Jones said on X that he had received a scholarship offer from the Orange coaching staff. The 6-foot-4 Jones attends Richmond Heights High School in Richmond Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland.

Per social media posts, he played well over the spring and summer while competing on the AAU circuit for the 16U team of the Columbus, Ohio-based All Ohio Red in Nike’s EYBL league. Jones also earned high marks from national analysts and scouts for his performance at the 2023 Nike Elite 100 Camp, a prestigious event that was held in June.

Although his recruiting process likely has a way to go, the ‘Cuse already faces stiff competition for Jones. The contact period for his class just opened up this past June 15, and Jones to date has tallied at least 15 other scholarship offers from a range of high-major programs, according to his X page and recruiting services.

Syracuse basketball has gotten into the fray for 2025 four-star guard Dorian Jones.

Besides the Orange, Jones’ offer sheet includes Houston, Michigan, Rutgers, Missouri, Dayton, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Michigan State, Xavier, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Toledo, Cincinnati, Cleveland State and Arizona State. Wow. That’s quite a list.

Virtually all of the primary recruiting services rate him as a four-star prospect in the junior recruiting cycle. Additionally, numerous recruiting Web sites place him, within the 2025 class, as a top-40 overall player, a top-10 shooting guard and a top-three prospect in Ohio.

Based on comments I’ve read from experts, Jones can score points in droves and is a skilled shooter. He has good size and length for a shooting guard, facilitates well for others and, perhaps most importantly, is stellar on the defensive end of the floor. That excites me.

In mid-June, Richmond Heights suited up in the popular Philly Live event in Philadelphia amid an NCAA live period. Adam Finkelstein, the director of scouting for 247Sports, wrote an article around that time in which he listed Jones as one of his top performers at Philly Live.

"The 247Sports scout wrote in part that “Jones didn’t waste the opportunity to make an impression. The first thing that jumps out about Jones is his shooting stroke, it’s fluid and almost pure off his hand. Then it’s the long arms that were recently measured as a 6-foot-10 wingspan. When he gets loose in transition, he shows that he’s quick off his feet athletically. Then defensively there is a lot to like as well as he utilizes that length to be very impactful on that end of the floor. In total, he’s not only impactful right now, but he has the tools and type of game that is very translatable up to subsequent levels.”"

When I wrote this column, I counted at least 16 prospects in the 2025 class who have received an offer from the ‘Cuse coaching staff. Many of these targets are point guards, shooting guards and combo guards.

Two shooting guards in this cycle who hold Syracuse basketball offers are four-star Kiyan Anthony and five-star Darryn Peterson. The 6-foot-5 Anthony, who was offered by the ‘Cuse last November and plans to officially visit the Hill at some point, is a junior at Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y.

The 6-foot-5 Peterson, who is ranked No. 2 nationally in the 2025 class by several recruiting services, was offered by the Orange in late April. He recently transferred to Huntington Expression Prep in Huntington, W.Va., for his junior year.

I’m pumped to see Syracuse basketball coaches offer Dorian Jones, and I look forward to tracking his recruitment moving forward.