Syracuse basketball 4-star target Acaden Lewis has more blue-blood interest, from UNC

Acaden Lewis, the 2025 four-star combo guard from Washington, D.C., has quickly appeared to emerge as a priority target for Syracuse basketball coaches in the rising high school senior class.

Yet if the Orange hopes to ultimately prevail for the fast-rising 2025 prospect, 'Cuse coaches will have to hold off some of the nation's elite college basketball programs.

The 6-foot-3 Lewis, this spring, was deemed a top performer on the AAU circuit by analysts and scouts, and that has fueled an expansion of his offer sheet in recent weeks. He just picked up a new offer from Miami; Syracuse basketball offered a scholarship to Lewis in late April of this year.

Lewis has said numerous times lately that he plans to visit the Hill soon, along with several other schools. It will be imperative for the Orange staff to get him on campus for a visit if Syracuse basketball has any sort of realistic shot to prevail in Lewis' accelerating recruitment.

More and more blue-bloods are interested in Syracuse basketball 2025 four-star target Acaden Lewis.

Beyond the 'Cuse and the Hurricanes, Lewis' full offer list includes squads such as Pittsburgh, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Michigan, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Villanova, Florida State, Georgetown, Virginia, Brown, Bryant, George Mason, George Washington, Georgia, Howard, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Providence, St. John's, Vanderbilt, Norfolk State and UMBC.

Additionally, various reports have indicated that Lewis is garnering interest from blue-blood programs Kentucky, Kansas and two-time defending national champion UConn. Top analyst/scout Colby Giacubeno of MADE Hoops and 247Sports recently noted on X, among others, that Lewis plans to take an unofficial visit to Kentucky on June 17.

By extension, in a post from Giacubeno on X from June 7, another blue-blood program, North Carolina, has reached out to Lewis, who is a standout for the nationally ranked Sidwell Friends School in D.C. and the 17U group of the Oxon Hill, Md.-based Team Durant in Nike’s EYBL league.

Currently, numerous recruiting services place Lewis, within the 2025 class, in the top 80 overall, in the top 15 at point guard/combo guard, and as the No. 3 player coming out of our nation's capital. He did recently rise to just outside the top 50 nationally, according to refreshed 2025 rankings from MADE Hoops.

Candidly, based on his stellar junior season in the 2023-24 campaign for Sidwell Friends, and his performances this spring on the AAU circuit, Lewis should be universally deemed a top-50 overall player and a top-10 point guard/combo guard in his cycle, in my humble opinion.

To date, Lewis has officially visited Virginia and Florida State, while he's also gone on unofficial visits to Georgetown and Virginia Tech. The Kentucky unofficial is coming up, and he's anticipated to schedule official visits for the near future to suitors including the Orange.

Lewis has said in recent interviews that since being offered by the 'Cuse, he hears consistently from the Syracuse basketball staff. Last month, as the EYBL held a session in Indianapolis during an NCAA live period, head coach Adrian Autry was reportedly in attendance for at least one of Team Durant's games.

With so many impressive programs pursuing Lewis, some Orange fans may think that SU is a long shot to prevail for him. I get that sort of sentiment, but at the same time, Syracuse basketball coaches seem to be recruiting Lewis hard these days, and he speaks highly of the 'Cuse program.

I'd love to see Acaden don an Orange uniform down the line. He's a star on the court, and he's a great young man off the court who seems to be highly focused on giving back to his community.