Acaden Lewis, one of the top guards in the 2025 class who was heavily pursued by Syracuse basketball coaches for a period of time, has de-committed from Southeastern Conference member Kentucky and reopened his recruitment, according to ESPN's Jonathan Givony and other media reports.
Whether or not the Orange staff might pursue Lewis again remains to be seen. If I had to venture a guess, I assume that the 'Cuse won't make another run at the talented DMV prospect, but you never know.
NEWS: Top-25 recruit Acaden Lewis has decommitted from Kentucky, he told ESPN.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 11, 2025
"This was an incredibly difficult decision, but I have to do what's best for my future," Lewis said. "Thank you to Coach Pope and the whole Kentucky staff for all they've done for me so far." pic.twitter.com/TSr7t3nBeV
The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Lewis, who hails from Washington, D.C., is a four-star, top-30 national prospect in the high school senior class. He's rated as high as No. 20 overall by Rivals.com, and the primary recruiting services deem him a top-seven point guard/shooting guard and the No. 1 player from D.C. in this cycle.
A former Syracuse basketball priority recruit is back on the market.
Lewis is a standout at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, which went 24-6 overall during the 2024-25 campaign, per MaxPreps, and was ranked No. 46 nationally and No. 3 in D.C.
In the spring and summer of 2024, Lewis saw his national rankings and recruitment blow up, buoyed by a strong junior season at Sidwell Friends and then high-level performances at various showcase events and on the AAU circuit with the Oxon Hill, Md.-based Team Durant in Nike's EYBL league.
Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to Lewis in late April of last year. In the coming months after that, the Orange staff would be in attendance for him amid NCAA live periods, and Lewis took an unofficial visit to the Hill on August 1.
When he disclosed a top eight, the 'Cuse made the cut. The chatter among some recruiting analysts is that Syracuse basketball had a good shot at landing an official visit from Lewis, however, in mid-September of last year, he unveiled a top four of UConn, Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina.
Lewis committed to Kentucky last November.
As we look ahead to the Orange's 2025-26 stanza, the program currently has 10 players on its roster, with five open scholarships available. Those players are:
Naithan George, point guard (he's a transfer from Georgia Tech)
J.J. Starling, shooting guard
Nate Kingz, small forward (he's a transfer from Oregon State)
Donnie Freeman, power forward
William Kyle lll, power forward/center (he's a transfer from UCLA)
Kiyan Anthony, shooting guard
Luke Fennell, combo guard
Sadiq White Jr., forward
Aaron Womack, shooting guard/small forward
Ibrahim Souare, power forward/center (he's a transfer from Georgia Tech)
I don't necessarily expect Syracuse basketball coaches to add five more players this off-season, but some positions of need, from my perspective, include another point guard, a 3-point specialist out on the wing, a combo small forward/power forward, and a center.