Syracuse basketball 2025 class is off to blazing start as 5-star Sadiq White commits

Syracuse basketball is on the board with its 2025 class, and the Orange has kicked things off in a big-time way.

On Wednesday night, five-star forward Sadiq White Jr. from Charlotte, N.C., a consensus top-35 national prospect in the rising senior class, verbally committed to the 'Cuse, as he revealed his college decision via On3 Recruits' YouTube page. A shout-out to On3 national reporter Joe Tipton for breaking this story.

First and foremost, a huge congratulations and welcome from Orange Nation to Sadiq. By extension, this is a monumental inaugural get in the 2025 cycle for head coach Adrian Autry and his staff.

The 6-foot-8 White, described by analysts as a stellar defender whose offensive game continues to grow, had a top seven that included Syracuse basketball, Alabama, Southern California, Georgetown, LSU, Tennessee, and Texas.

Syracuse basketball has scored a verbal pledge from 2025 five-star forward Sadiq White Jr.

Leading up to his commitment announcement, on Wednesday, at least two predictions were logged in the Orange's direction for White on Rivals.com.

White is a standout rising senior at the nationally ranked Myers Park High School in Charlotte. On the AAU circuit, this spring and summer, he is running with the 17U squad of the Charlotte-based Team United in Nike's EYBL league.

Most of the individual recruiting services currently have White as four stars, although at the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed him as five stars, No. 24 overall, No. 8 at power forward and No. 1 in North Carolina with the 2025 class.

Most recruiting Web sites deem White a top-10 forward and the No. 1 prospect coming out of North Carolina in his cycle.

The Orange staff has prioritized him in the 2025 class for a while now. He picked up a scholarship offer from the 'Cuse in late April of last year. Throughout his recruitment, White has amassed more than 20 high-major offers, per Rivals.com.

Dating back to last fall, he has taken unofficial visits to several schools. White unofficially visited Syracuse basketball twice, in mid-September of 2023 and in late February of this year on Jim Boeheim Day.

Beyond unofficial visits to the Hill, the Orange coaching staff has visited White during an open gym at Myers Park. Earlier this month, amid a live period on the AAU circuit, Autry, assistant coach Brenden Straughn and assistant coach Allen Griffin were in attendance for White when the EYBL league held a session in Indianapolis.

As a junior in the 2023-24 season, White averaged 16.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for Myers Park, which finished at 27-3 overall and was ranked in the top-25 nationally by several media outlets. MaxPreps, when it released its 2023-24 junior All-America teams, gave White an honorable-mention nod.

I can't stress enough how excellent this news is for the Syracuse basketball program. The 'Cuse staff clearly devoted a lot of time to pursuing White, and it paid off. Now let's see what other highly ranked prospects will ultimately join White in the Orange's 2025 class.