Syracuse basketball 4-star, 5-star recruits who will contend for a national title

Multiple four-star and five-star prospects who have Syracuse basketball recruiting connections are expected to compete for a high school national championship during the upcoming 2024-25 season, numerous analysts, scouts and other national observers tell me.

The 2024-25 campaign in high school hoops is just getting underway around the country. While many programs will look to win a title in their particular state, the best of the best in high school basketball will vie for a national crown next spring at the annual Chipotle Nationals, an eight-team event that determines the top squad.

In 2023-24, the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., went undefeated and captured the Chipotle Nationals in Brownsburg, Ind., near Indianapolis, this past spring. Montverde, in the final game, defeated St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va., another elite team that also features an Orange 2026 five-star priority recruit.

Oftentimes, most of the squads invited to the Chipotle Nationals are independent basketball academies and prep schools that don't necessarily compete for state-affiliated titles throughout the course of their seasons. But top-flight programs such as St. Paul VI, that do play for state-sponsored championships, can certainly make a run at getting to the Chipotle Nationals as well.

Over the last two weeks or so, I caught up with numerous national recruiting analysts, scouts and national writers who are deeply plugged into the high school hoops scene to get their take on which teams are likely to prove significant contenders to land bids to the Chipotle Nationals in the spring of 2025. A few of these potential participants include a Syracuse basketball commit and other key 'Cuse targets.

Syracuse basketball recruits who will significantly contend for a national title this season.

In no particular order, here are some high school programs named by experts I spoke with that are likely to be in the hunt for a berth to the 2025 Chipotle Nationals:
•Christopher Columbus High School in Miami
•Link Academy in Branson, Mo.
•Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla.
•Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y.
•IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
•Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif.
•Utah Prep in Hurricane, Utah
•La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind.
•AZ Compass Prep School in Chandler, Ariz.
•Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H.

Jordan Divens, the national basketball editor for MaxPreps, also noted that as it pertains to potential invites to the Chipotle Nationals, keep an eye on the eventual Florida 7A state champion, the champion of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference ("WCAC"), and possibly the Georgia 6A state champion.

For Syracuse basketball recruiting enthusiasts, as far as I can tell, the likely top two teams in the WCAC in 2024-25 should be Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., and St. Paul VI. A standout junior at St. Paul VI is All-American Jordan Smith Jr., a 2026 five-star shooting guard who took an unofficial visit to the Hill in late September of this year.

A senior at IMG is Syracuse basketball 2025 commit Sadiq White Jr., a five-star forward who verbally pledged to the Orange in late May of this year. Over at Long Island Lutheran, one of the leaders of that team is 'Cuse 2025 priority recruit Kiyan Anthony, a four-star shooting guard who has Syracuse basketball among his finalists and will make his commitment announcement this coming Friday, Nov. 15.

Paul Biancardi, ESPN's national recruiting director, was kind enough to catch up with me by phone in recent days. He says that both IMG and Long Island Lutheran have loaded starting-five rotations and excellent head coaches who have been to the Chipotle Nationals before.

Biancardi expects that White and Anthony will be vital contributors to their respective programs in 2024-25, although they have different roles. Anthony is a knock-down shooter and a scorer, while White's strengths at this juncture are more focused on his athleticism, defense, paint presence and rebounding.

"Kiyan has to be a big part for LuHi to win," Biancardi says.

Top scout Aasim Sullivan, the owner of JamFinnesse Hoops, told me that he watched White at a showcase event earlier this year and came away impressed. "He is a beast," Sullivan said of the Syracuse basketball verbal commit.

Both Sullivan and national writer Charlie Parent of ZagsBlog say that IMG and Long Island Lutheran are teams to watch for return trips to the Chipotle Nationals after making it there this past spring.

Sullivan noted that LuHi brought back a lot of talented players for 2024-25, including Anthony, while also adding size in its front-court.

Parent said in part to me: "I think LuHi will be there in the spring because of their ability to score the ball any night. IMG has some really nice players and should be able to make some noise, too."

One other squad to monitor is CIA Bella Vista in Phoenix, which high school hoops experts are forecasting as a top-20 national group this coming season.

The reason I'm mentioning CIA Bella Vista is that, based on recent social media posts, Syracuse basketball coaches recently offered scholarships to several four-star and five-star prospects across the 2026 and 2027 cycles who suit up for CIA Bella Vista.

For those 'Cuse recruiting fanatics, you'll also remember some of these names, as significant contenders for the Chipotle Nationals include various programs noted above whose rosters feature former Orange targets.

Among them are Link (Jerry Easter II and Chris Cenac Jr.), Montverde (Dante Allen), Prolific Prep (Nikola Bundalo and Darryn Peterson), and La Lumiere (Darius Adams).