Syracuse basketball 5-star recruits in mix for national underclassman player of year

As the 2024-25 season in high school hoops gets underway, four Syracuse basketball five-star recruiting targets are on the watch list for this campaign's Naismith Trophy national underclassman player of the year, according to a recent press release.

Per the announcement, 25 high school prospects are on this watch list, and they are all either sophomores or juniors.

The four Orange recruits each hold a scholarship offer from the program. Those Syracuse basketball targets on the watch list are 2026 five-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr., 2026 five-star wing Qayden Samuels, 2027 five-star center Paul Osaruyi, and 2027 five-star forward Baba Oladotun.

Syracuse basketball five-star recruits who are on the watch list for a national underclassman award.

The 6-foot-2 Rippey, a top-15 national prospect, is a junior at the Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J. He was offered by the Orange in late August of 2023, took an unofficial visit to the Hill in late February of this year, and plans to officially visit Syracuse basketball in 2025, his dad has told me.

This past Sunday, at the annual National Prep Showcase in New Haven, Conn., Rippey went off in a Blair victory with Orange general manager Alex Kline in attendance.

The 6-foot-5 Samuels, a top-15 national prospect, is a junior at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Md. The 'Cuse offered this talented DMV product in late July of this year.

The 6-foot-9 Osaruyi, a newer Orange recruit, picked up his Syracuse basketball scholarship offer in late October. The sophomore at CIA Bella Vista in Phoenix is a top-five overall player in the 2027 cycle.

CIA Bella Vista, by the way, competes in the 14-member Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic ("EYBL Scholastic"), a loaded high school hoops conference where 'Cuse 2025 five-star commit Sadiq White Jr. and Orange 2025 four-star commit Kiyan Anthony are spending their respective senior years.

In late June, the Syracuse basketball staff offered the 6-foot-9 Oladotun, who is a standout sophomore at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Md. Currently, ESPN rates him as the No. 1 national prospect in the 2027 class.

About a week ago, I wrote a separate piece regarding high school prospects with 'Cuse recruiting ties who are on the 50-person watch list for the Naismith Trophy national player of the year. This list, of juniors and seniors, features White, Anthony and Jordan Smith Jr., a 2026 five-star shooting guard who holds an Orange offer and unofficially visited Syracuse basketball in late September of this year.