Syracuse Basketball: 3 players on list of ACC’s best 2024 draft prospects

A top scout recently published his list of the top 2024 NBA Draft prospects in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and three Syracuse basketball players were included.

Adam Finkelstein, the director of scouting at 247Sports, and his colleagues have been breaking down the best NBA prospects in the major conferences ahead of next summer’s draft, and naturally, we’re focused on the ACC and the Orange.

In his piece on the ACC, Finkelstein noted ‘Cuse sophomore point guard Judah Mintz, sophomore guard and Central New York native J.J. Starling, and junior forward Benny Williams.

To provide some context, these Syracuse basketball players being included in the 247Sports story doesn’t mean that Mintz, Starling or Williams will hear his name called at the 2024 NBA Draft.

As Finkelstein wrote, the 247Sports previews of the ACC and other top conferences “will lead to The Draftables, our comprehensive list of every NBA prospect playing college basketball, which will continue to be updated and edited throughout the course of the season.”

Syracuse basketball players are among the ACC’s best 2024 NBA Draft prospects.

The 6-foot-4, 185-pound Mintz, who hails from Fort Washington, Md., averaged more than 16 points per game a stanza ago and was named to the ACC’s All-Freshman team in 2022-23.

He tested the 2023 NBA Draft process and ultimately decided to return to the Hill for a second term. While the 2024 NBA Draft is a long way from now, Judah Mintz is already showing up in mock projections for next summer’s draft.

"Finkelstein, in his article, wrote in part, “The theme remains the same as Judah Mintz is a returning sophomore who spurned a chance to be one-and-done a year ago, despite an outside chance at being a first-round pick. This year, the goal is to take the risk out of the decision and play his way definitively into the first 30.”"

When Syracuse basketball hosts New Hampshire on Monday, Nov. 6, to begin its 2023-24 season, beginning the era of first-year head coach Adrian Autry, Mintz is expected to be in the starting backcourt rotation.

So, too, should be the 6-foot-4, 206-pound Starling, who like Mintz was named to the ACC’s All-Freshman team in 2022-23 after averaging more than 11 points per game for Notre Dame. In March, Starling entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, then he committed to Autry and the ‘Cuse shortly thereafter.

Not too long ago, top national analyst/scout Jamie Shaw of On3 included Starling, a Baldwinsville, N.Y., native, in a piece where he examined 10 college basketball players who are “sleepers” to potentially get selected in the NBA Draft’s first round.

Autry, on several occasions this off-season, has said that he believes the 6-foot-9, 210-pound Williams is poised for a big junior year, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Williams, who is from Bowie, Md., averaged about 22 minutes, seven points and four rebounds per contest in 2022-23. In the upcoming campaign, I expect his production to increase and become more consistent, especially as he earns more time on the court.

"Shaw, a week or so ago, said in a post on X, “Benny Williams has a lot of tools. He was a late bloomer out of HS & I’m curious if he takes that step for Syracuse this season. Listed at 6-9, he has great length with easy explosion. Adrian Autry appears to have a lot of confidence in him, and the balance/mechanics look clean.”"