Syracuse basketball 5-star, 4-star targets battle in top New England league

Syracuse basketball (Syndication: Worcester Telegram)
Syracuse basketball (Syndication: Worcester Telegram)

Multiple Syracuse basketball recruits will go toe to toe this coming season in a top New England prep league.

The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (“NEPSAC”) is a premier prep-school league not just regionally, but also nationwide. Several of its member schools include highly rated players who hold scholarship offers from the Orange coaching staff.

Three NEPSAC teams to monitor, from a ‘Cuse recruiting standpoint, in the upcoming 2023-24 campaign are the Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vt., the St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Conn., and the New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H.

According to a recent social media post from the Vermont Academy boys’ basketball X page, these three teams will square off at various times over the next few months.

Syracuse basketball targets will duke it out in New England this coming season.

One of the standouts for Vermont Academy is 2025 five-star shooting guard/small forward Joson Sanon, who is a top-20 national prospect in this class and even rated in the top-10 overall by some recruiting Web sites.

In late October, the 6-foot-6 Sanon, who said about a year ago that he wanted to hear from the Orange, said on X that he had picked up a scholarship offer from Syracuse basketball.

Besides the ‘Cuse, Sanon’s full offer sheet includes squads such as Indiana, Alabama, Arizona, Boston College, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Marquette, UMass, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Providence, Bryant, Kansas, LSU, 2023 national champion UConn, Mike Hopkins-led Washington, Creighton, Maryland and Miami.

In late September, the Orange offered 2025 four-star wing London Jemison. The 6-foot-8 Jemison attends St. Thomas More after previously playing at Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford, Conn.

Other college teams that have offered Jemison include Villanova, Xavier, Providence, Virginia, Temple, George Mason, Boston University, Rice, Saint Joseph’s, Rhode Island, Yale, Fairfield, UMass and Brown.

In mid-October, during an interview with scouting service Pro Insight, Jemison mentioned several schools that he’s hearing from regularly these days, and he noted that Syracuse basketball was one of them.

Over at the New Hampton School, one of its stars is 2025 three-star point guard Keyshuan Tillery, who hails from Albany, N.Y.

In late August, the 6-foot-1 Tillery took an unofficial visit to the Hill to compete in the Orange’s annual Elite Camp. Shortly thereafter, he secured a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse coaching staff.

Tillery has said that he hopes to get back on the Hill for another visit to Syracuse basketball at some point in the future. His offer list also includes Northwestern, Albany, UMBC, Georgia Tech, North Carolina A&T, Hampton, Bryant, Temple, Mike Hopkins-led Washington, Wyoming, UMass and St. Bonaventure.

The 2023-24 season should prove an exciting one in NEPSAC. I’ll certainly monitor how these various Orange recruits from New England fare when they battle each other in the upcoming stanza.