Since the fall recruiting period began on September 9, the Syracuse basketball staff has visited with various targets during open gyms at their respective high schools.
A source confirms to Inside the Loud House that the Orange coaching staff was recently in for a pair of 2028 five-star prospects who will spend their junior seasons at the powerhouse Montverde Academy, which finished as the No. 2 team in the country last season and is led by a legendary former DMV head coach, Steve Turner.
The two prospects whom the 'Cuse was in attendance for at Montverde are 2028 five-star wing Isaiah Hamilton, who hails from Canada, and 2028 five-star wing Xavier Skipworth, who is from the talent-rich Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Previously, the 6-foot-7, 200-pound Hamilton competed for the Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, while the 6-foot-6, 180-pound Skipworth starred for the Bullis School in Potomac, Md.
Within the 2028 class, Hamilton is No. 5 nationally, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. Skipworth, meanwhile, arrives at No. 19 overall, per the 247Sports Composite.
Syracuse basketball is in touch with 2028 five-star wings at Montverde.
Both Hamilton and Skipworth held scholarship offers from the former Orange staff under then-head coach Adrian Autry. It's not clear whether they have been re-offered by the new Syracuse basketball staff under first-year head coach Gerry McNamara, but either way, the 'Cuse is showing interest in both 2028 players.
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Montverde is a member of the 15-team Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic ("EYBL Scholastic"). In the 2025-26 campaign, the first for the Eagles under Turner, Montverde went 23-7 overall, reached the championship game of the season-ending Chipotle Nationals in Fishers, Ind., and was the No. 2 squad around the country, according to numerous media outlets, such as MaxPreps and ESPN.
Last month, Inside the Loud House surveyed analysts, scouts and coaches to get a sense of which teams will likely be significant contenders to win a high school national title in 2026-27, and Montverde is deemed among those with a good shot at capturing the Chipotle Nationals come next April.
Look for Hamilton and Skipworth to play key roles for the Eagles in the upcoming season. Syracuse basketball has offered more than a dozen 2028 prospects, and the Montverde players could emerge as priority recruits for the Orange in this cycle when all is said and done.
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