The Syracuse Orange basketball team didn’t officially pick up its second commitment of the 2018 class last Friday, but it might as well have. Jim Boeheim’s son Buddy said he’d play for his father in the 2018-19 season in an interview with ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.¬†Buddy said he wouldn’t officially make a decision until after his AAU season, but also said he wouldn’t go to any other school and went into trying to win a national championship with his dad in the coming years. If Buddy is coming to Syracuse, how does his commitment change the 2018 recruiting cycle (if at all)?
As you might imagine, Buddy Boeheim’s recruitment hasn’t been like any other player the Orange has gone after. It may be the easiest sell for Jim Boeheim to make, but that’s also made it much more difficult for him to draw other offers. Buddy’s offer list is still small, but part of that has to do with the name he bears. As Coach Boeheim explained to Goodman, other college coaches assumes he’ll sign with the Orange and not pursue him as a recruit. The major recruiting sites rank all the top players in each class, but a player’s offer sheet is just as telling in his ability to transition to the next level. Buddy’s list is smaller. For a while he only had Binghamton, Iona and UMass, but last week Gonzaga’s Mark Few offered Buddy. It goes without saying that Few knows a thing or two about identifying talent.¬†247Sports.com doesn’t have Buddy Boeheim listed in its recruiting rankings, but that will change as time goes on (Syracuse fans hope, at least).
As far as how Buddy fits into his father’s scheme and needs, it seems to be a match made in heaven. The Orange’s only other recruit in the 2018 class is 6-9 Darius Bazley. Bazley could easily end up as the highest ranked recruit in that class, but the Orange still needs a guard in the cycle. Buddy is a 6-5 shooting guard who would play at one of the top spots in SU’s 2-3 zone. His height gives him the length to fit in perfectly on defense, and it’d be hard to argue that any incoming freshman has ever known more about Jim Boeheim’s patented defense than his son. On offense, Buddy can shoot the ball. He shot over 50 percent from behind the arc at the Peach Jam, and played to Central New York Player of the Year honors at Jamesville-Dewitte last winter.
Jim Boeheim says his son is ready to compete at the ACC level, and while he hasn’t yet committed to Syracuse, it certainly looks to be heading that way. Of course, if the Orange does land Jim Boeheim’s son, his days in the Carrier Dome would be one of the most-watched in Syracuse basketball history.
Posted: Nathan Dickinson
