Syracuse Basketball: 5-star to visit same weekend as 5-star Jalil Bethea

It looks like mid-September will prove a big weekend for Syracuse basketball.

Sadiq White, a consensus top-40 national prospect in the 2025 class from North Carolina who is rated five stars at present by the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, plans to take an unofficial visit to the Orange beginning September 15th, according to the X account 24/7 High School Hoops, who is a high-school hoops recruiting analyst and scout.

The 6-foot-8 White, a small forward/power forward who received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse in late April of this year, recently visited Texas and plans to take an unofficial visit to Cincinnati on September 23, according to 24/7 High School Hoops. I also came across a post on X from one of White’s high-school assistant coaches, saying that White will unofficially visit N.C. State on September 29.

White is a standout junior at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, N.C., a team that as I noted in another recent column, is getting some preseason top 25 love from a top analyst/scout ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

On the AAU circuit, White is a star for the Charlotte-based Team United in Nike’s EYBL league. Per media reports, the Orange coaching staff has watched him amid NCAA live periods during AAU competitions, and the ‘Cuse also reportedly reached out to White once the contact period for the 2025 class opened up this past June 15.

Syracuse basketball is expected to have two five-star players on campus in mid-September.

Beyond the ‘Cuse, White’s growing offer sheet includes Ohio State, Georgetown, N.C. State, Tennessee, Texas, Cincinnati, Florida State, Georgia, Illinois, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Alabama, among others.

https://twitter.com/BigShotsGlobal/status/1695565384441549258

I’m extremely pumped that Sadiq plans to unofficially visit the Orange on September 15. Another elite high-school player who reportedly will travel to the Hill around that time is 2024 five-star guard Jalil Bethea, who has the ‘Cuse in his top five along with Alabama, Kansas, Miami and Villanova.

The 6-foot-4 Bethea was offered by the Orange in September of 2022 and officially visited the Orange the following month. He’s vaulted into the top 15 nationally, according to several recruiting services.

Bethea is a rising senior All-American at Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster, Pa., and was a superstar in grassroots basketball this spring and summer for the Philadelphia-based Team Final on the EYBL circuit.

Not too long ago, Bethea took an official visit to his hometown suitor, Villanova. This past weekend, he was on an official visit to Kansas and will do the same at Miami around September 8 before heading to Alabama a little bit further down the line.

But according to SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister, other reports and recruiting services, Bethea will take a second official visit to Syracuse basketball during the weekend of September 15, which is a huge opportunity for him to bond with current ‘Cuse players and the staff, while checking out practices run by first-year head coach Adrian Autry.

In recent weeks, there has been so much chatter surrounding Bethea’s recruitment, since he has seen his national rankings skyrocket of late. Some of the recent analyst “buzz” is that Kansas is positioning itself well, but that others such as the Orange and Miami also are in a good spot with Bethea.

Who the heck really knows? What I can definitively say is that Syracuse basketball players and coaches have an opportunity come mid-September to really knock it out of the park with both Bethea and White, who are among the best players around the country in the 2024 and 2025 classes, respectively.