Yesterday, Alterique Gilbert’s head coach tweeted that Syracuse and Jim Boeheim were in town to see his prized recruit. He followed that up by posting that SU had extended an offer to the 4-star recruit in the ’16 class. Gilbert retweeted both posts, and is a 6’1″ point guard from Georgia who is rated at #44 nationally by ESPN.com.
Interestingly, this was just two days after UConn hosted Gilbert in Storrs. Gilbert was originally recruited by Florida State, and early reports suggested the Noles were in the driver’s seat. But once schools like Ole Miss, Miami and Maryland jumped in, the Noles were left holding their tomahawks.
The Orange have made it a priority to go out and land one of the best point guards in the nation by offering Tyus Battle and Kobi Jordan-Simmons. This is a smart game plan since SU has churned out a number of guards into the NBA Draft over the last decade (with mixed results).
But it’s interesting that SU quickly offered Gilbert just days after he visited Storrs. Syracuse is in the ACC, while UConn now tries to stay in the national consciousness in the American. But the Huskies also won a title just 12 months ago, so UConn has some major pull. But watch the courtship of Kevin Ollie this offseason by NBA teams. Rumors are linking him to the Thunder if Scott Brooks is fired. That would be a huge blow to the Huskies recruiting prowess, at least in the short term until a new head coach was named.
Syracuse vs. UConn, just like the good ol’ days.
Posted: D.A.
