Syracuse basketball may land a 5-star in 2027. Even if SU doesn't, it's no big deal.

When the new Syracuse basketball staff under first-year head coach Gerry McNamara was mining the portal this past spring, there was a contingent of Orange fans, especially those who really follow recruiting closely, who bemoaned SU not getting any high-major transfers.

That sort of theme could - I repeat, could - replicate itself with Syracuse's 2027 high school class, which consists of prospects entering their senior years. Should that occur, it's not be the end of the world. Here's why.

First and foremost, it's important to note at the jump that the transfer portal's explosion and financial considerations - rev-share directly from SU and third-party NIL deals - have changed high school recruiting forever.

No, prep recruiting isn't dying. It's just a whole lot different, as the legendary former high school head coach Steve Smith recently dished on in an interview with Inside the Loud House.

Let's take a collective breath as it relates to Syracuse basketball's 2027 high school class.

The Orange has one verbal pledge in 2027 from three-star wing Jack Donohue, an Albany, N.Y., product who attends The Newman School in Boston. Beyond Donohue, SU coaches have pushed hard for a couple of 2027 priority targets.

Given the competition for recruits like five-star point guard Nasir Anderson, five-star wing/small forward Moussa Kamissoko and four-star wing/forward Ahmed Nur, it wouldn't be a surprise if the 'Cuse doesn't land any of them, although as Inside the Loud House has detailed in recent days, the Orange has some buzz for Kamissoko.

For one, Syracuse's NIL situation is okay, by and large, but when the Orange staff goes up against some of the big-boy, heavyweight programs in college basketball for these sorts of recruits, it will be tough for the 'Cuse to prevail.

If a top-flight high school prospect's biggest criteria in picking a school isn't money (yes, that's still the case for some prep players), and the Orange is in the neighborhood as other financial offers, then the 'Cuse has a shot.

Some context: Syracuse basketball's 2026-27 roster is currently at the NCAA-capped limit of 15, and transfer forward Amarri Monroe's eligibility remains up in the air, but regardless, with the NCAA's new 5-for-5 eligibility model, every SU player can return for the following season.

Of course, in this era of collegiate athletics, that isn't likely to happen, but a team's roster makeup is always going to be an extremely important factor for high school prospects when making a college decision.

Anderson was supposed to officially visit SU this past weekend, but he canceled the trip to Central New York. It's entirely possible that Syracuse basketball coaches are trying to get him on campus for a rescheduled visit, and Anderson isn't expected to sign during the early period this November; however, landing this top-10 national prospect is a huge long shot for Orange, if I'm being real.

Kamissoko and Nur have each officially visited the 'Cuse, along with other schools. SU has recruited Kamissoko hard for a while, first offering him a scholarship in late December 2024 when Adrian Autry was at the team's helm. At this point, I'd take Syracuse basketball over the field for Kamissoko, but you never know how things will play out in the sometimes unpredictable recruiting world.

Nur's official visit to Syracuse basketball late last month went well. Earlier this week, he reportedly took an official visit to SMU, and Florida State seems to be heavily involved with Nur. Since the start of the fall recruiting period on September 9, the Orange staff has been in for Kamissoko and Nur during open gyms at their respective high schools in Ohio and Arizona, with McNamara on hand for Kamissoko this past Wednesday.

This brings us to Donohue, who is a three-star prospect but also missed about 10 months amid having open-heart surgery last year. Several analysts and scouts have told Inside the Loud House that Donohue could easily morph into a four-star player as a senior, and his new high school head coach, Justin Perron, weighed in on Donohue here.

More context: I'm not saying anything Earth-shattering here, but the 'Cuse needs to win games on the court in the 2026-27 campaign. Yes, McNamara won a national title alongside Carmelo Anthony in 2003 at SU (and son Kiyan is a sophomore guard for the Orange), but the squad hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2021, and SU has endured two straight losing seasons, something basically unheard of for one of college basketball's all-time, top-10 winningest programs.

High school recruits assuredly know what McNamara did in his two years at Siena, but Syracuse - and the Atlantic Coast Conference - is a much bigger stage. Prep prospects will want to see that McNamara and the 'Cuse have reverted back to their historical winning ways.

I'll also give McNamara and his assistants a bit of a pass here in that they joined SU in the spring, had to put together their 2026-27 roster rather quickly, and they've put in the work with their main 2027 high school targets.

It may not be in the cards for Syracuse to land any of these recruits, all of whom reside inside the top 20 of the senior cycle, but if McNamara & Co. have a good 2026-27 campaign, that can only help with future high school recruiting classes (to that end, the Orange has offered roughly 15 prospects so far in 2028).

Plus, as I've noted many times, this 2027 high school cycle for SU was always likely to be small. Sure, the 'Cuse made the top 10 of five-star combo guard King Gibson and the top seven of four-star guard Devin Cleveland, yet as Inside the Loud House has reported, unless they end up visiting the Orange, Syracuse isn't landing either of them, and the SU staff isn't aggressively pursuing them, either.

With 15 guys on the 2026-27 roster, and the possibility (even if remote) that everyone could return for 2027-28, having Donohue on board is great, and if Syracuse obtains a pledge from either Kamissoko or Nur, that's gravy, so to speak (to reiterate, at this juncture, I like the Orange's chances with Kamissoko, but I'm trying to temper expectations a bit).

Keep in mind the portal's significance in college basketball recruiting these days and also the growing importance of international markets (SU's current roster features center Abdramane Siby from Mali and wing Mark Morano Mahmutovic from Slovenia).

When McNamara was an assistant coach at SU back in the day, some fans didn't think he was all that super duper as a recruiter (opinions vary on that topic). NIL will likely always be a potential hindrance for Syracuse basketball to land a top-10 national prospect.

To me, I say let's see how this season plays out, and what the roster construction efforts look like in the offseason ahead of 2027-28. If McNamara returns the Orange to the Big Dance in his first year as SU's head coach, and again, reiterating likely NIL limitations, perhaps Syracuse will be better positioned to score a top-30 overall player (or two) in the 2028 high school class.

It remains to be seen if the 'Cuse will prevail for any of its remaining 2027 priority targets. The Orange may strike out on all of them. While that won't make the fan base happy, the sky won't be falling.

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