There’s plenty of news from the Syracuse recruiting world as we end August and head into the fall semester on campus.
We start with basketball, where SU had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week in recruiting. For starters, 2023 wing Reid Ducharme, who took an official visit to Syracuse on June 14, committed to Xavier last week. The four-star recruit from Brewster (NH) Academy is rated 97th in his class had a final group that included Syracuse, Penn State and Xavier before he ultimately ended up as a Musketeer. Ducharme spoke with Adam Zagoria from ZagsBlog.com, and he said playing in the Big East was a huge factor in him selecting Xavier. “The Big East is huge. It’s not influenced by the football teams, it’s all focused on basketball.”
And it appears Syracuse will head into fall without a single commitment in 2023. The Orange has long coveted JP Estrella, who has set a commitment date of Sept. 2, and all momentum is with the Tennessee Volunteers. The Brewster Academy (NH) big man is rated the 54th best recruit in the class of 2023 by 247 Sports, and has a final three of Tennessee, Syracuse and Iowa. But in the last week, four recruiting analysts from 247 Sports, including national analyst Travis Branham, have Estrella going to the Vols.
Syracuse’s next priority target may be guard Mike Williams from Bishop (MD) Walsh School. He’s rated four stars by 247 Sports and the 96th overall recruit in the 2023 class. He will be taking an official visit to Syracuse on Sept. 16, and he appears focused on SU, Clemson, DePaul, LSU and Wake Forest.
And while SU will likely miss on Estrella, they’re now pursuing 2023 big man William Patterson from Bishop (NY) Walsh. Patterson earned an offer at the Syracuse Elite Camp, and tells Sports Illustrated’s Mike McAllister that Syracuse is currently in the lead. Other schools to have offered so far include Oklahoma State, Rutgers and TCU.
Several other recruits were on campus for the camp over the weekend. Among the group included 2024 guard Elijah Moore from Cardinal (NY) Hayes and Damarius Owens, a 2024 wing from Western (OH) Reserve Academy. Both have Syracuse offers. Syracuse.com’s Mike Waters has the full list from the camp.
Syracuse also offered Thomas Sorber from Archbishop (PA) Ryan. Georgetown, La Salle and Maryland are among the other schools to have offered the 2024 prospect so far.
» Related: The latest with Syracuse recruits Kenneth Woseley, Nnamdi Udeogu, Kobe Baynes
Moving to football, Syracuse kicks off its 2022 season against Louisville on Friday, and when they do, the JMA Wireless Dome will have some extra visitors. Several recruits announced last week they would be among the 20+ recruits that will be on hand.
One in partciular I wanted to highlight was 2025 wide receiver Jayden Sellers, the brother of 2023 quarterback commit LaNorris Sellers. The Orange was the first school to offer back in June, and Sellers will have an opportunity to take a closer look this weekend, as he tweeted he will be on campus.
Other visitors who announced they will be in attendance in the past week include:
- Demari Clemons, a 2026 defensive back from Sweet Home (NY) High
- DJ McClary, a 2025 linebacker from Henry (NJ) Snyder High
- Brahim Wynn, a 2024 EDGE from of Timber (NJ) Creek
- Adam Yevchak, a 2024 offensive lineman from Neptune (NJ) Donovan Catholic
Aside from those visitors, Syracuse also extended an offer to 2025 ATH Dallas Golden from Berkeley (Fla.) Prep. Other Power 5 offers include Pittsburgh and Florida State.
One final note from the football world: It appears there is a new leader for 2023 St. Thomas (CT) More Prep defensive back Zion Tracy. 247 Sports’ Brian Dohn predicted Tracy would commit to Penn State last week. PSU recently got involved in his recruitment and he’s set for an official visit on Sept. 9. Syracuse was his first Power 5 offer and he has an official visit set for Oct. 28, but he may not be on the board by that point.
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