Syracuse Basketball: Donnie Freeman's 4-star teammate, from D.C., reopens recruitment

A four-star teammate of Syracuse basketball 2024 five-star commit Donnie Freeman is back on the market.

Word broke this week, per multiple media reports, that 2024 four-star forward and top-30 national prospect Khani Rooths has de-committed from Big Ten Conference member Michigan and reopened his recruitment.

Not too long ago, Michigan announced that head coach Juwan Howard would not be back next season after leading the Wolverines for five campaigns.

A post on X from On3 national reporter Joe Tipton said that the 6-foot-8, 200-pound Rooths, listed as a small forward or a power forward on recruiting Web sites, would continue to consider Michigan while looking at other suitors as well.

Might the Orange coaching staff pursue Rooths? That's to be determined. But he's a mighty talented prospect in the senior cycle. Rooths also hails from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, a region where the current 'Cuse staff has deep recruiting ties.

Syracuse basketball, though, does have two members in its 2024 class.

The Orange's 2024 cycle includes Freeman, a five-star power forward who is from D.C. and has spent his senior year at the powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., as well as four-star shooting guard Elijah Moore from New York City, who shined in the recent 2023-24 stanza for the Our Saviour Lutheran School in the Bronx, N.Y., which is part of the Atlanta-based professional league Overtime Elite.

Rooths is also on the IMG roster in 2023-24. The Ascenders, which compete in the loaded 14-team Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic (“EYBL Scholastic”), recently got selected for the upcoming Chipotle Nationals, an eight-squad field that will crown a high school national champion and will take place from April 4 to April 6 at Brownsburg High School in Brownsburg, Ind., near Indianapolis.

In the EYBL Scholastic regular season, IMG went 7-5 and finished in a tie for No. 5 in the league's standings. Per that conference's Web site, Rooths averaged 8.83 points, 4.67 rebounds and 1.92 assists per game, while he connected on 44 percent from the field, 27 percent from deep and 70 percent from the free-throw line.

Before joining the Ascenders, Rooths suited up for the Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Md. In the most recent AAU season last year, he played for New World, a grassroots program based in the D.C. area that is part of the Adidas 3SSB league.

Within the 2024 cycle, several recruiting services rank Rooths as a top-30 overall player, a top-10 small forward/power forward and a top-10 prospect coming out of Florida. Before committing to Michigan, his scholarship offer sheet included schools such as Florida State, Georgia, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, George Mason, Georgetown, Indiana, Maryland, Miami, South Florida and Xavier, among others.

Now, for some context, the Orange does have another forward commit in Freeman for next season. Also on the Syracuse basketball roster are sophomore small forward Chris Bell and sophomore power forward/center Maliq Brown.

Sophomores Justin Taylor and Quadir Copeland, both of whom can play guard or small forward, are hitting the transfer portal, which opened on Monday. So whether or not 'Cuse coaches feel like Rooths could be a good fit at Syracuse basketball, and also whether he might have an interest in the Orange, is to be determined.