Syracuse Basketball: 4-star D.C. area guard in top 50, but way underrated

In new rankings from one of the primary recruiting services, 2025 four-star guard/small forward Cam Ward, who holds a Syracuse basketball offer, arrived just inside the top 50.

However, I continue to contend that the 6-foot-7 Ward, who hails from the talent-rich Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, is being vastly undervalued in the junior class.

The Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to Ward in late April. More recently, amid the fall recruiting period that began about a month ago, the ‘Cuse coaching staff was in attendance for Ward during an open gym at his school in Maryland.

When On3 updated its top 150 for the 2025 cycle, Ward arrived at No. 47 across the country, No. 14 at small forward and No. 1 in Maryland.

Syracuse basketball faces steep competition for 2025 four-star wing Cam Ward.

At present, ESPN appears to be the most bullish on Ward, placing him at No. 39 overall. Most of the other recruiting services have him outside of the top 50, and respectfully, I don’t get that at all.

As a sophomore at Largo High School in Upper Marlboro, Md., during the 2022-23 season, Ward averaged more than 25 points per game. In 2022-23, he was named to The Washington Post’s All-Met first team and received an All-America honorable-mention nod from MaxPreps.

This spring and summer, Ward was excellent on the AAU circuit while suiting up for the Oxon Hill, Md.-based Team Durant in Nike’s EYBL league. So for several recruiting services to him have outside the top 50 in the 2025 cycle is something for which I respectfully disagree.

Per his X page, some of Ward’s latest scholarship offers have come from Michigan State, Louisville and Villanova. His full offer sheet also includes teams such as Saint Louis, Notre Dame, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Penn State, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Old Dominion, Texas, Iowa, Providence, Tennessee, VCU, Georgetown, Arkansas, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, George Mason, George Washington and Bryant, among others.

Ward has unofficially visited both Maryland and Georgetown. In mid-September, he went on an official visit to Notre Dame, and he also has an official visit scheduled to Florida State from October 13 to October 14, On3 national analyst Joe Tipton has said.

Candidly, I’m not sure how big of a player Syracuse basketball is these days in Ward’s recruitment, although the Orange coaching staff did recently go to one of his open gyms.

Let’s see if the ‘Cuse can get Ward up to the Hill at some point for an official or at least an unofficial visit.