In the wake of Syracuse basketball landing a second 2024 verbal commit, Donnie Freeman, this past May, the Orange’s two-member senior class vaulted into the top 10 around the country.
Around that time, in fact, the ‘Cuse 2024 cycle was pushing toward the top five nationally. More recently, though, the Orange’s senior class has dropped outside the top 10, and it is in danger of falling beyond the top 20, at least according to one recruiting service.
However, let’s provide some context here. A big reason why the Syracuse basketball 2024 class has seen its national rankings diminish is due to other college programs adding other highly rated commits of their own.
This does not, in any way, take away from the critical point that the Orange’s senior cycle includes two excellent high-school prospects, the four-star power forward Freeman from Washington, D.C., as well as four-star shooting guard Elijah Moore from New York City, who verbally pledge to the ‘Cuse in late January.
The Syracuse basketball 2024 class still consists of a pair of stellar commits.
Another thing to consider. The Orange’s 2023-24 roster includes 13 scholarship players, and no seniors. While we don’t know which current players could end up hitting the NCAA’s transfer portal after 2023-24 concludes, it always seemed likely that the ‘Cuse wouldn’t have more than two or three high-school commits in its 2024 cycle.
This next off-season, if Syracuse basketball does lose some players to the transfer portal, I assume the Orange coaching staff will fill those voids by hitting the portal itself, something that the ‘Cuse did quite well this past off-season prior to 2023-24 getting underway in fewer than a month.
The 6-foot-4 Moore will spend his senior year in the upcoming campaign at the Our Saviour Lutheran School in the Bronx, N.Y., which is part of the Atlanta-based professional league Overtime Elite. He is pushing the top 50 in 2024, and many recruiting experts deem Moore one of the top long-range shooters nationwide in this cycle.
The 6-foot-9 Freeman, meanwhile, is rated inside the top 30 in his class, according to several recruiting Web sites, and he could contend for five-star status should he shine on a big stage in his senior season.
Speaking of that, Freeman in 2023-24 is suiting up for the powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., which competes in the loaded 10-member National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (“NIBC”).
Last month, 2024 five-star guard Jalil Bethea from the Philadelphia area verbally committed to Miami over Syracuse basketball and others. At this juncture, I’m not even aware of the Orange coaching staff pursuing any additional 2024 high-school players these days.
So if the squad’s senior cycle stays at two members – albeit two extremely talented prospects – the ‘Cuse will likely continue to drop down in the 2024 national team rankings, as other college groups keep on adding four-star and five-star commits.
Plus, with the portal always a viable option to fill roster openings, it does seem like Orange coaches are heavily focused on the 2025 and 2026 classes. At present, the ‘Cuse has offered scholarships to at least 17 prospects in 2025, and another seven players in 2026.
Syracuse basketball coaches, since the fall recruiting period got underway in early September, have proven quite active in checking out targets during open gyms at their high schools, while also hosting a variety of recruits to the SU campus on official and unofficial visits.
In any event, when I wrote this column, here is where the Orange’s 2024 class stood in national team ratings for this cycle:
247Sports Composite
No. 19 overall, No. 5 in the ACC
On3 Industry Ranking
No. 11 overall, No. 4 in the ACC
Rivals.com
No. 15 overall, No. 4 in the ACC