Syracuse Basketball: Still a big weekend, as 4-star and 5-star to visit ‘Cuse

Jalil Bethea, a 2024 five-star guard from the Philadelphia area, has canceled his official visit to Syracuse basketball that was scheduled for this coming weekend, according to reports. While that’s a bummer, it doesn’t take away from this weekend still being a big one for the Orange coaching staff from a visit perspective.

To date, as far as I’m aware, ‘Cuse coaches have offered scholarships to 16 players in the 2025 class, and two talented prospects in the junior cycle are expected to be on the Syracuse University campus this weekend.

Those planning to be on the Hill are 2025 four-star point guard Nigel James, who hails from New York state, and 2025 five-star forward Sadiq White from the Charlotte, N.C., area, per reports and social media posts.

The 6-foot James is a fast-rising player in this class who should enter the top 100 in the near future. The 6-foot-8 White, meanwhile, is rated five stars by the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. Multiple recruiting services rank White in the top 25 across the country in the 2025 cycle.

Syracuse basketball has some key 2025 recruits coming to visit this weekend.

James was offered a scholarship by the Orange in late August, when he attended the team’s annual Elite Camp. Per social media, he is officially visiting the ‘Cuse on September 15. James also has official visits planned in the coming weeks to Providence, Rutgers and Wake Forest.

Born in New York City, James grew up in the town of Huntington on Long Island. Last month, he announced that he would transfer for his junior year from the Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass., to the powerhouse Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., which is a member of the loaded 10-team National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (“NIBC”).

At Long Island Lutheran, James will team up with 2025 four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony, who picked up a Syracuse basketball offer last November and is also expected to officially visit SU at some point.

James, who shined this spring and summer on the AAU circuit for the 16U team of the Boston-based Expressions Elite in Nike’s EYBL league, has a growing offer sheet that includes Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Seton Hall, George Mason, Iowa, Marquette, UMass, Minnesota, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Southern California, Wake Forest, Xavier, Manhattan, Saint Joseph’s and UAB, among others.

According to social media, White is taking an unofficial visit to the Orange on September 15. He recently made an unofficial visit to Texas and also plans to take unofficial visits to Cincinnati, N.C. State, South Carolina and LSU in the coming weeks.

Syracuse basketball offered a scholarship to White in late April of this year. His offer list also features 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.

Similar to James, White put forth an impressive spring and summer in grassroots basketball. He competes for the Charlotte-based Team United in Nike’s EYBL league.

White is also a standout junior at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, which as I noted in another recent column, has landed in preseason top-25 national rankings from a top high-school hoops analyst ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

I’m really excited for Nigel and Sadiq. I hope their respective visits to Central New York go wonderfully, and I’ll be monitoring other 2025 and 2026 targets who may elect to take their own visits to Syracuse basketball in the coming months.