4-star Derek Dixon, who has Syracuse basketball in top 6, to decide later this month

It looks like Syracuse basketball 2025 target Derek Dixon from Washington, D.C., is nearing the end of his recruiting process.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Dixon, a talented four-star combo guard and top-60 national prospect, plans to make his college decision at the end of this month, according to a report on zagsblog.com from top insiders Adam Zagoria and Sam Lance.

Earlier this summer, Dixon disclosed a top six of the Orange, Vanderbilt, Arizona, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Virginia.

This past weekend, he took an official visit to Vanderbilt. Dixon went on his first official visit, to Syracuse basketball, in late September of last year. He has also gone on official visits to Pittsburgh and Virginia.

Per the zagsblog.com piece, he has upcoming official visits to North Carolina and then Arizona later this month. Dixon told zagsblog.com that he's eyeing September 27 as the target date for his commitment announcement.

Syracuse basketball will soon know if it has landed 2025 four-star guard Derek Dixon.

The Orange staff offered Dixon on June 15 of last year, which was the first day that college coaches could initiate direct communication with 2025 prospects. As far as I can tell, 'Cuse coaches have been in regular contact with Dixon ever since.

Dixon is a standout rising senior at Gonzaga College High School in D.C. and has been a strong performer on the AAU circuit while suiting up for the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike's EYBL league.

Syracuse basketball coaches have deep ties to the D.C. metropolitan area and, in particular, to the Team Takeover grassroots program. Throughout his recruitment, Dixon has spoken highly of the Orange staff.

Looking ahead to 2024-25, top high school basketball analyst and scout Samad Hines projects that Gonzaga will be a top-10 national team in preseason rankings.

At this juncture, I'm not seeing any analyst predictions on recruiting Web sites for Dixon. When I wrote this column on Monday night, On3's recruiting prediction machine had Virginia in the No. 1 spot for Dixon, followed by Pitt and UNC. Syracuse basketball, Vanderbilt and Arizona were all grouped together, not far behind.

I'm not plugged into Dixon's recruiting process, but I do wonder whether his having taken an official visit to the 'Cuse nearly a year ago, with his other official visits occurring more recently, will have any impact on the Orange's chances.

Both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, within the 2025 class, place Dixon in the top 60 overall and in the top 11 at point guard/combo guard. He's also the No. 3 prospect coming out of D.C. within his cycle.

Whichever finalist ends up getting a verbal pledge from Dixon will have on board one of the top shotmakers around the country in the rising senior class, as ESPN recruiting director Paul Biancardi recently noted on his X page.