Syracuse Basketball: Per scout, SU staff watches 4-stars, 5-stars on Adidas circuit

As the shoe-sponsored AAU circuits have conducted competitions this weekend amid an NCAA live period, Syracuse basketball coaches are out and about watching highly rated prospects across various classes.

The Adidas 3SSB league, for one, has been holding its season-ending playoffs of the current grassroots hoops term, with those playoffs culminating on July 14 in Rock Hill, S.C. The current evaluation period for college coaches to be on hand for recruits has been taking place from July 11 to July 14.

According to a post on X from top scout Ron Hampston, the 'Cuse staff was reportedly in attendance for at least one game involving the 16U team of Wildcat Select, a 3SSB program that, according to its Web site, has prospects who hail from states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, among others.

Hampston, in his X post, noted three players on Wildcat Select in the 16U division: Tay Kinney, Jonathan Sanderson and Kameron Mercer.

The Syracuse basketball staff reportedly was in the house for some top-flight prospects.

Per his X page, Kinney is a 6-foot-3 point guard/shooting guard in the class of 2026. He goes to Newport High School in Newport, Ky. Kinney is rated four stars, with most recruiting services placing him inside the top 35 nationally of the rising high school junior class.

According to his bio on the On3 Web site, Kinney holds scholarship offers from schools such as Cincinnati, Louisville, Purdue, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Illinois, Xavier, Ohio State and Dayton, among others.

Sanderson is a 6-foot-3 point guard in the 2026 cycle out of Saline High School in Saline, Mich. He is ranked a four-star, top-50 national prospect in his class, per multiple recruiting Web sites.

To date, Sanderson's offer sheet includes college squads such as Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia, Purdue, Xavier, Rutgers and Notre Dame, among others.

Mercer is a 6-foot-4 point guard/shooting guard in the class of 2028. This coming season, he will be a freshman at Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati.

The majority of recruiting services don't have national rankings out for the 2028 cycle, or even the 2027 class. However, I did come across various articles and social media posts stating that Mercer is trending as a five-star player and perhaps the No. 1 overall prospect in his class.

Per his X page, he already holds scholarship offers from Missouri, Ohio State, Xavier and Cincinnati.