Syracuse basketball is high up in recruitment of 4-star guard Derek Dixon

Derek Dixon, a 2025 four-star combo guard from Washington, D.C., took his first official visit about two weeks ago, and it was to Syracuse basketball.

The 6-foot-4 Dixon, a top-80 national prospect and a top-10 combo guard in the junior class, said in multiple recent interviews that the trip to the Hill went well, and that he’s highly interested in the Orange.

Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to the fast-rising Dixon on June 15 of this year. He is a standout at Gonzaga College High School in D.C. and suits up for the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league, which is one of the top AAU programs around the country.

After the fall recruiting period began last month, the Orange coaching staff was in attendance during an open gym at Gonzaga to check in on Dixon.

Syracuse basketball is prioritizing four-star combo guard Derek Dixon in the 2025 cycle.

To date, Dixon’s growing offer sheet includes schools such as West Virginia, Iowa, Miami, Mississippi State, Virginia, Villanova, Xavier, Penn State, Maryland, Providence, Saint Joseph’s, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Kansas State, Bryant, George Mason, Fordham, East Carolina and Norfolk State.

He has taken unofficial visits to both Pittsburgh and Virginia. SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister, in a recent article, noted that Dixon plans to unofficially visit Villanova on October 21.

Dixon told McAllister that, at present, the ‘Cuse is “definitely up there on my list.” Regarding his official visit to the Orange, he said, “To see the things that coach (Adrian) Autry is doing taking over that program. It definitely helped give me a better idea and a better concept of what Syracuse basketball is like.”

In a recent piece from Charles Kang of The Juice Online, Dixon said that the teams that he’s hearing from the most these days include Syracuse basketball, Villanova, UVA, Pittsburgh and Kansas. “Syracuse is definitely high in my recruitment and a good option I will continue to explore,” Dixon told Kang.

Dixon, as a junior, is expected to be a key contributor at Gonzaga, which is showing up in some preseason top-25 rankings ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. MADE Hoops, by the way, has Dixon rated as the No. 30 overall player in the 2025 class.

When Dixon took his official visit to the ‘Cuse, two other highly rated prospects also took official visits to Syracuse basketball on the same weekend. They were 2024 commit Donnie Freeman, a four-star power forward from our nation’s capital, and 2025 target Matthew Gilhool, a four-star big man from the Philadelphia area.