Syracuse Basketball: Keep an eye on 4-star PG J'Lon Lyons as official visit candidate

J'Lon Lyons, offered by Syracuse basketball earlier this summer, is a fast-rising 2027 prospect from the DMV who is high on the Orange program.

The 6-foot-3 Lyons, a four-star point guard, tells my guy Zach Smart on zagsblog.com that he's forged a strong relationship with 'Cuse assistant coach Brenden Straughn, who has deep recruiting ties to the talent-rich Washington, D.C., area.

"I can definitely see myself with Syracuse because they are big on guard play," Lyons said to Smart. "They’ve produced some really big time guards."

While nothing is on the books, I anticipate that Lyons is likely to visit the Orange at some point in the future. Syracuse basketball is currently among the teams recruiting this top-50 national prospect the hardest, along with others such as VCU, Indiana and Marquette.

Per zagsblog.com, Lyons is eyeing visits later this month to Georgetown, a hometown squad, and Indiana. Smart tells me that Lyons didn't mention any specific visits besides the Hoyas and the Hoosiers, but the Orange does seem to be heavily involved with him these days.

Syracuse basketball is in the mix for a talented 4-star guard.

To date, Lyons' full offer sheet includes schools such as Indiana, George Mason, Georgetown, Mississippi State, Providence, Seton Hall, Florida State, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, VCU, Villanova, Texas A&M and Morehead State.

When the 2027 contact period opened on June 15, Syracuse basketball was among the schools to reach out to Lyons. He reported his 'Cuse scholarship offer via his X page on June 23.

Lyons is a standout rising junior at the Clinton Grace Christian School in Clinton, Md. This spring and summer, he was a top performer in the 16U division of the Adidas 3SSB league while competing for the D.C. area-based New World.

As a sophomore in the 2024-25 campaign, Lyons helped lead Clinton Grace to a 24-8 record and a top-10 ranking in Maryland, according to MaxPreps. He was named to the All-Metro Private School Conference ("MPSC") first team a season ago.

When I wrote about Lyons around the time of his Orange scholarship offer, he hovered around the top 100 in the 2027 class. Currently, Rivals has Lyons at No. 43 nationally, No. 8 at point guard and No. 1 in Maryland. Via the industry-generated Rivals Industry Ranking, he's No. 52 overall.

Including Lyons, the Orange coaching staff has offered scholarships to at least 13 prospects in the 2027 class, all of whom are rated either four stars or five stars. Syracuse basketball is also showing an interest in various other rising high school juniors.