Syracuse Basketball: Nationally, CBS Sports ranks Judah Mintz in top 50

In a ranking from CBS Sports panelists of the top-101 players across the country in college hoops, Syracuse basketball sophomore point guard Judah Mintz has arrived inside the top 50.

The 6-foot-4, 185-pound Mintz, who hails from Fort Washington, Md., had a strong freshman season for the Orange, which went 17-15 overall under then-head coach Jim Boeheim, as the team missed the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row.

Mintz, a 2022 four-star prospect by way of the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., averaged 16.3 points, 4.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.4 turnovers per game in 2022-23, while connecting on 44.3 percent from the field, 75.1 percent from the free-throw line and 30.3 percent from beyond the arc. He was on the ACC’s All-Freshman team in 2022-23.

National pundits have said that Judah Mintz is sporting an improved perimeter jumper ahead of 2023-24, and he’s a significant contender for All-ACC and All-America honors in the upcoming stanza.

Syracuse basketball sophomore point guard Judah Mintz is a top-50 national player.

When the Atlantic Coast Conference announced its preseason media poll in late October, Mintz was on the All-ACC second team. Other national experts have put him on the All-ACC first squad in preseason projections.

Not too long ago, he was one of 20 players who were named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Bob Cousy Award, which every year honors the top point guard in Division I men’s hoops.

Mintz went through the 2023 NBA Draft process, but he decided to return to the Hill for a second season. While the 2024 NBA Draft is a long way from now, he’s already receiving some first-round draft buzz.

Syracuse basketball commences its 2023-24 stanza under first-year head coach Adrian Autry on Monday, Nov. 6, when the Orange will host New Hampshire at the JMA Wireless Dome.

"CBS Sports, in its national rankings, has Judah Mintz at No. 44, which is on-brand for SU Athletics. In the CBS Sports article, senior writer Matt Norlander wrote, “If not for Mintz, no one would know how precarious the outlook would be for Adrian Autry in his first season at Syracuse. The Orange return one of the top sophomore floor generals in the nation and hope to be an ACC spoiler because of it. Mintz’s instinctive feel and pick-pocket tendencies make him an entertaining watch. He’ll also probably be a stat monster. Mintz averaged 16.3 points, 4.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals. It’s possible all those numbers increase.”"

These CBS Sports national ratings, by the way, “do not consider NBA potential or previous accomplishments (other than how previous accomplishments usually serve as indicators of future success). This is simply a ranking of the 101 men we collectively believe will be the best 101 college basketball players this season,” the CBS Sports experts wrote in their piece.

From a recruiting perspective, there are numerous college basketball players within the top 101 who are likely familiar to Syracuse basketball fans.

Most notably, former Orange center Jesse Edwards is No. 64. This past off-season, Edwards transferred from the ‘Cuse to West Virginia as a graduate student.

Guys in the CBS Sports national rankings who held Syracuse basketball scholarship offers during their recruiting processes include:
No. 3, Kyle Filipowski of Duke
No. 4, Hunter Dickinson of Kansas
No. 8, Donovan Clingan of defending national champion UConn
No. 18, Justin Edwards of Kentucky
No. 55, D.J. Wagner of Kentucky
No. 56, Arthur Kaluma of Kansas State (he previously played at Creighton)
No. 58, Clifford Omoruyi of Rutgers
No. 85, Jahvon Quinerly of Memphis (he previously played at Villanova and Alabama)