Syracuse Basketball: 247Sports has Judah Mintz in mock draft first round

Recruiting service 247Sports recently published its first mock 2024 NBA Draft big board for the first round, and Syracuse basketball sophomore point guard Judah Mintz made the cut.

Naturally, the 2024 NBA Draft is many months from now, but still, this isn’t the first time that I’ve seen the 6-foot-4, 185-pound Mintz garner some buzz for next summer’s draft.

In the 247Sports mock first round of the top-30 prospects, from top national analyst Travis Branham, Judah Mintz checked in at No. 24 overall. Multiple former Orange recruiting targets also were included, and I’ll have more on that in a little bit.

Mintz, who is from Fort Washington, Md., is eyeing a big sophomore term for the ‘Cuse, which kicks off its 2023-24 season on Monday, Nov. 6, at home versus New Hampshire in the official start to the Adrian Autry era as the Orange’s head coach.

Syracuse basketball sophomore Judah Mintz appears in the first round of a mock 2024 NBA Draft.

As a freshman in the 2022-23 season, when the ‘Cuse went 17-15 overall under then-head coach Jim Boeheim, Mintz averaged 16.3 points, 4.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.4 turnovers per game.

Named to the ACC’s All-Freshman team in 2022-23, Judah Mintz as a freshman connected on 44.3 percent from the field, 75.1 percent from the free-throw line and 30.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Before coming to the Hill, he was a star senior at the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., during which time recruiting services rated him as a consensus four-star prospect in the 2022 class. Numerous recruiting Web sites also ranked Judah Mintz as a top-60 overall player in this cycle.

Following his terrific first stanza with the Orange, Judah Mintz went through the 2023 NBA Draft process, but ultimately he decided to return to Syracuse basketball for his sophomore season, to the delight of the ‘Cuse coaching staff and its fan base.

In recent interviews, Mintz has said that he and his teammates are ready to prove wrong the national and ACC pundits who aren’t high on the Orange ahead of the 2023-24 season commencing.

What’s more, after a two-year NCAA Tournament absence, Judah Mintz has said that the ‘Cuse doesn’t just want to land a Big Dance invite. Syracuse basketball players expect, this coming term, to make a deep run in March Madness.

Assuming that Mintz has a strong sophomore year, he will contend for All-ACC and All-America honors, and his name should continue to appear in mock 2024 NBA Draft projections.

Speaking of that, as I mentioned, Branham’s recent first-round big board includes numerous prospects who held Syracuse basketball scholarship offers or interest from the Orange coaching staff. Among them are:
No. 2, Justin Edwards, Kentucky small forward
No. 5, Matas Buzelis, NBA G League Ignite wing/forward
No. 9, Elliot Cadeau, North Carolina point guard
No. 10, Donovan Clingan, UConn center
No. 12, D.J. Wagner, Kentucky guard
No. 14, Kyle Filipowski, Duke center
No. 15, Aaron Bradshaw, Kentucky center