Syracuse Basketball: 4-star DMV targets lauded for Peach Jam, D.C. summer league play

Prince-Alexander Moody and Qayden Samuels, 2026 four-star teammates in both high school and AAU competitions, are rising fast in their class, and they're talented prospects for Syracuse basketball fans to monitor.

The 6-foot-4 Moody landed a scholarship offer from the Orange staff in late August of last year, around the time that he participated in the team's annual Elite Camp. The 6-foot-4 Samuels, meanwhile, holds interest from the 'Cuse.

On June 15, the contact period opened for the 2026 cycle, allowing college coaches to initiate direct communication with rising juniors in high school. Per analysts, once that contact period opened, both Moody and Samuels heard from Syracuse basketball coaches.

Moody and Samuels each boast a variety of high-major offers at this juncture. Now that college coaches can contact them directly, I'd expect both of them to see their offer sheets expand sooner rather than later.

They hail from the talent-rich Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, a market to which numerous Orange coaches possess deep recruiting connections. Moody is a top-75 national prospect in the 2026 class, while Samuels resides in the top 20 overall of this cycle.

Syracuse basketball 4-star recruits Prince-Alexander Moody and Qayden Samuels are elite DMV prospects.

Moody and Samuels are standout rising juniors at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Md., which is a member of the loaded Washington Catholic Athletic Conference ("WCAC").

In grassroots hoops, they are running with the 16U squad of the Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league, an AAU program with strong ties to the 'Cuse coaching staff.

One of their Team Takeover colleagues is 2026 four-star point guard and top-125 national prospect Anthony Brown. The 6-foot-1 Brown, who has transferred for his junior year to Archbishop Carroll High School in D.C., also competed in the Orange's Elite Camp last August, around which time he was offered by Syracuse basketball.

Moving forward, I believe that Moody and Brown are candidates to potentially take official visits to the Hill down the line. We'll have to see how things pan out regarding Samuels.

Running through July 21 in North Augusta, S.C., the EYBL is holding its annual Peach Jam tournament, with an NCAA live period scheduled for July 19 to July 21.

Team Takeover, led by Moody, Brown, Samuels and others, is aiming for a Peach Jam title in the 16U division. As I've noted in a couple of other articles in recent days, all of them have put forth some solid performances so far at Peach Jam, earning well-deserved praise from analysts and scouts.

Bishop McNamara was among numerous high schools to play in the recent Capitol Hoops Summer League ("CHSL"). Earlier this month, the 2024 CHSL All-Summer League teams were disclosed for this league's regular season, with Moody and Samuels getting honored.

Per this article from July 10, Samuels landed on the first team, while Moody resided on the second unit. Samuels was sensational, averaging 25.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while connecting on 46.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Moody, too, was excellent. He averaged 14.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.0 assists per contest.