As the fall recruiting period opened on September 9, the Syracuse basketball staff has been on hand for a 2028 target in the Sunshine State.
Recently, Orange assistant coach Ben Lee was at an open gym for the juggernaut IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., a source confirms to Inside the Loud House. While the Ascenders' 2026-27 roster is chock full of elite four-star and five-star players, the 'Cuse is primarily in pursuit of 2028 five-star wing/small forward Will Brunson.
The 6-foot-6, 185-pound Brunson, who has a 6-foot-11 wingspan according to IMG head coach Jackson Johnson, held a scholarship offer from the former SU staff under then-head coach Adrian Autry and, more recently, has been re-offered by Orange first-year head coach Gerry McNamara and his assistants.
Recruiting analysts have also reported in the past that Brunson took an unofficial visit to Syracuse basketball last December. Per Rivals, he has also taken unofficial visits to both Rutgers and fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school N.C. State. Plus, according to his Instagram page, Brunson appears to have visited Notre Dame, Oklahoma State and Duke.
Syracuse basketball is in pursuit of 2028 five-star prospect Will Brunson.
Johnson recently spoke with Inside the Loud House about his new position at IMG, while also detailing why he's high on his Ascenders' roster in the upcoming campaign. Last season, under then-head coach Sean McAloon, IMG went 20–9 overall and finished No. 22 nationally, per ESPN.
But the Ascenders, an Under Armour-sponsored program that is no longer a member of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic ("EYBL Scholastic"), didn't make this past spring's Chipotle Nationals in Fishers, Ind. Ahead of 2026-27, high school hoops experts tell Inside the Loud House that they expect IMG to be a significant contender to win a high school national title this coming season.
One key addition for the Ascenders is Brunson, a top-25 national prospect who was an All-American as a sophomore, per MaxPreps, after averaging 22.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game at the Rutgers Preparatory School in Somerset, N.J.
"He's great. An electric-scoring talent," Johnson said of Brunson in a recent interview with Inside the Loud House, while also calling him a "ferocious worker."
Brunson's full scholarship offer sheet includes schools such as VCU, Auburn, Fairfield, Rider, Rutgers, La Salle, Seton Hall, Mississippi State, TCU, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, N.C. State, Villanova, Ole Miss, Louisville, Providence, Kansas, Indiana and Georgia Tech.
In the most recent grassroots hoops season, Brunson played up a division for the 17U team of the New York City-based Renaissance Hoops in Nike's EYBL league. He averaged 7.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game for the NY Rens.
To date, Syracuse basketball coaches have offered around 15 prospects in the high school junior class. One of the latest SU offers went out to 2028 five-star point guard Michai White, who will spend the upcoming season at Prolific Prep in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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