Syracuse Basketball: Per On3, ‘Cuse among leaders for 4-star PG, top-100 Nigel James

Four-star junior point guard Nigel James, a fast-rising prospect and priority recruit for Syracuse basketball in the 2025 class, could make his college decision known in the coming months, he said in a recent interview.

The 6-foot James, a top-100 overall player in his cycle, received a scholarship offer from the Orange in late August of last year, around the time that he competed in the team’s annual Elite Camp.

The following month, in mid-September of 2023, James went on an official visit to the ‘Cuse. There was talk of him and his high school teammate, 2025 four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony, making a trip to Central New York to take in the Orange’s home game against Miami this past Saturday afternoon.

However, as I first reported a few days ago, a scheduling conflict prevented James and Anthony from being in attendance for the Syracuse basketball Atlantic Coast Conference encounter versus the Hurricanes.

I’ve been told that James and Anthony, backcourt colleagues at the Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., are hoping to check out another Orange game in the future.

Syracuse basketball is recruiting 2025 four-star point guard Nigel James hard.

Last December and earlier in January, the ‘Cuse coaching staff was in attendance for Long Island Lutheran affairs at two showcase events, first the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., and then more recently, at the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass.

Long Island Lutheran is a member of the country’s top high school conference, the 14-team Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic (“EYBL Scholastic”).

Going up against top-flight competition, James has earned high marks from national analysts and scouts for his play to date in the 2023-24 season.

James transferred to Long Island Lutheran for his junior year from the Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass. In the most recent AAU season, he was a breakout performer for the 16U team of the Boston-based Expressions Elite in Nike’s EYBL league.

Currently, James is in the top 100 nationally, per 247Sports, and multiple recruiting Web sites rate him as a top-25 point guard in this cycle. Personally, I’ve contended for a while now that James is vastly underrated in the 2025 class.

He has amassed more than 15 scholarship offers from a range of high-major programs. According to recent interviews that James has given, Syracuse basketball does appear to be one of his top schools.

To date, he has officially visited the ‘Cuse, Marquette, Rutgers and Providence. In a recent article from Charlie Parent on zagsblog.com, it was noted that James doesn’t plan to take additional visits and could make a commitment announcement “maybe around EYBL.”

The next AAU season, by the way, will run from late April until late July. When I wrote this column, On3’s recruiting prediction machine had Rutgers at No. 1 for James, followed by Providence, Syracuse basketball and then Marquette.

James, to my knowledge, hasn’t announced any sort of list cut. I’ll be on the look-out to see if he does end up taking any other campus visits, and also whether he heads to the Hill for an unofficial visit in the future to watch an Orange game.

In his chat with Parent, James said of Syracuse basketball, “It’s a great fanbase. I see them (their fans) a lot on Twitter. With the coaches, I have a great relationship too. Coach Gerry McNamara and they are just showing me I’m a point guard they need.”

In late December, James said to On3 national analyst/scout Jamie Shaw regarding the ‘Cuse, “I learned they let their guards go there, a lot of freedom. They are a great program. They have a new coach they have recruited me hard, they really want me there. It’s nice there, really big. They have the Carmelo Anthony Center. They take care of their athletes and make sure they’re in the best shape possible.”

This is solely my opinion, but I think that Syracuse basketball has an excellent chance to prevail in James’ recruitment.