Syracuse Basketball: Orange is out of contention for 5-star shooting guard

Darryn Peterson, one of the top prospects nationwide regardless of class designation, doesn’t appear to be considering Syracuse basketball moving forward.

Peterson is a five-star shooting guard in the 2025 class. At present, he is regarded as the No. 2 national prospect in the junior recruiting cycle.

The 6-foot-5 Peterson, in recent days, announced his top 16 schools on Instagram. The Orange didn’t make the cut. While that’s a bummer, given his offer sheet, I always assumed the ‘Cuse would prove a huge long shot to prevail for Peterson.

His top 16, by the way, includes Auburn, South Carolina, Baylor, Oregon, Ohio State, Louisville, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Kansas, Texas, UCLA, Arkansas, Kansas State and Indiana.

Syracuse basketball has offers out to other 2025 shooting guards.

Peterson received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse in late April. Besides the Orange, his offer list includes Louisville, Kansas, UCLA, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Indiana, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, St. John’s, Texas, West Virginia, Xavier, Alabama, Cincinnati, Illinois, Kansas State, Michigan, TCU, Texas A&M and Washington State, among others.

As a sophomore during the 2022-23 season, Peterson was named a first-team All-American by MaxPreps, after he averaged 31 points and nine rebounds per game for the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

Not too long ago, he said he would transfer for his junior year to the powerhouse Huntington Expression Prep in Huntington, W.Va. This spring and summer, he played quite well for the Ohio-based Team Phenom United in the Adidas 3SSB league on the AAU circuit.

In June, Peterson was also a top performer for the USA U16 national team, which won the gold medal at the 2023 FIBA U16 Americas Championship in Merida, Mexico.

While Syracuse basketball is no longer a contender for Peterson, the Orange does remain in pursuit of numerous other 2025 guards, including a couple of four-star shooting guards.

One of those 2025 four-star shooting guards is New York City product Kiyan Anthony, who picked up a ‘Cuse offer last November and will officially visit the Hill at some point. Anthony, who just scored a major NIL deal with underwear brand PSD, is out of Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., and the Baltimore-based Team Melo in Nike’s EYBL league.

More recently, in late August of this year, Syracuse basketball offered 2025 four-star shooting guard Dorian Jones. The 6-foot-4 Jones is a standout for Richmond Heights High School in Richmond Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland, and runs with the Columbus, Ohio-based All Ohio Red in the EYBL.

A recent article from SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister indicated that Jones has high interest in the ‘Cuse, and he could end up taking a visit to Central New York at some point in the future.