Syracuse basketball 5-star, 4-star targets earn bids to national championship tourney

Multiple Syracuse basketball four-star and five-star recruiting targets, along with ‘Cuse commit Donnie Freeman, will vie for a high school national title early next month.

I detailed in a recent column how Freeman, a 2024 five-star power forward, and his teammates at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., earned an invite to the upcoming Chipotle Nationals, a loaded, eight-team event that every season crowns a national champion in high school hoops.

Freeman and IMG are the No. 7 seed. Two other invitees to the 2024 Chipotle Nationals feature 2023-24 rosters with Orange recruits on them.

All of the games at this early April showcase tournament will air on ESPN channels, so ‘Cuse recruiting enthusiasts can watch a couple of Orange targets. Fun.

Syracuse basketball recruits are in the hunt for a national title.

By the way, this year’s Chipotle Nationals will take place from April 4 to April 6 at Brownsburg High School in Brownsburg, Ind., near Indianapolis.

Here are the eight invitees and the quarterfinal match-ups (click here for game dates, times and television coverage details):

•No. 1 seed Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., vs. No. 8 seed AZ Compass Prep School in Chandler, Ariz.

•No. 4 seed Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., vs. No. 5 seed Christopher Columbus High School in Miami

•No. 3 seed Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., vs. No. 6 seed Link Academy in Branson, Mo.

•No. 2 seed St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va., vs. No. 7 seed IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

A little context. Montverde, undefeated to date in 2023-24, is the favorite to cut down the nets. The Eagles have won this event in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

Last season, in 2023, Link claimed the national championship. IMG did as well in 2019.

A juicy quarterfinal pits Freeman against St. Paul VI and two sophomores on the Panthers’ roster who hold Syracuse basketball scholarship offers.

They are five-star shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr., who has said he wants to visit the Orange at some point, and under-rated point guard Anthony Brown, who in late August of last year took an unofficial visit to Syracuse basketball to compete in the Orange’s annual Elite Camp.

Another enticing quarterfinal also includes ‘Cuse recruiting connections. Long Island Lutheran’s stacked backcourt boasts Syracuse basketball 2025 four-star priority recruits Nigel James and Kiyan Anthony.

James, a top-20 point guard and a top-100 national prospect, took an official visit to the ‘Cuse last September. The following month, Anthony officially visited the Orange. He is a top-10 shooting guard and a top-40 overall player in the junior cycle.

The Crusaders will face a big-time challenge in battling Columbus The Explorers are led by 2025 five-star power forward Cameron Boozer and 2025 five-star point guard Cayden Boozer.

The Boozer twins are the sons of former NBA player and Duke star Carlos Boozer, who won a national championship with the Blue Devils in 2001.

Get your popcorn ready. I’d love to see some Syracuse basketball recruiting ties in the title game of this season’s Chipotle Nationals.