Syracuse basketball is getting involved early in on the recruitment of the son of a former NBA champion and All-American at UNLV.
Per his Instagram page, 2029 combo guard Isaiah Rider IV has landed a scholarship offer from the Orange staff. A huge congrats to Isaiah! The 6-foot-2 Rider is the son of shooting guard Isaiah Rider Jr., also known as J.R. Rider.
The elder Rider, in college, starred at UNLV. As a senior in the 1992-93 season, he averaged more than 29 points per game, earning second-team All-America honors while also being named the Big West Conference Player of the Year.
He played nine seasons in the NBA, for multiple teams, while averaging 16.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest. He made 44 percent from the field, 35 percent from beyond the arc and 81 percent from the free-throw line.
Rider won an NBA championship in 2001 with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also captured the league's slam dunk contest in 1994, getting named that year to the NBA's All-Rookie first team, too.
Syracuse basketball has offered the son of an NBA champ.
As far as I can tell, the Orange's offer to Isaiah Rider IV is the first one that the 'Cuse staff has made in 2029. Prospects in this class are heading into their freshman campaigns of high school.
According to his Instagram page, Rider's early offer sheet also includes schools such as Arizona State, Georgia Tech and UNLV. It's not entirely clear to me where Rider is playing in high school. Per his bio on madehoops.com, he may be attending the Valley Preparatory Academy in Tempe, Ariz.
This spring and summer on the AAU circuit, Rider is suiting up for the 15U squad of the Phoenix-based Arizona Unity in Nike's EYBL league, which last weekend held a session in Memphis, Tenn., amid a live period with college coaches, analysts and scouts in attendance.
Through seven games that he's played in so far this spring for Arizona Unity, Rider is averaging 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while connecting on 44 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond the arc, according to his bio on the EYBL Web site.
I think it's awesome that the Syracuse basketball staff has offered Rider so early on. That being said, he's only heading into his freshman term in high school, and his recruiting process has a long, long way to go.