With Nate Roberts’ commitment of to Washington last week, the book on Syracuse’s 2018 recruiting class is most likely closed. The Orange has commitments from Darius Bazley, Jalen Carey and Buddy Boeheim, but still has two available scholarships to give. It’s unlikely any of them will choose Syracuse, but SU does have 2018 scholarships offered to players who haven’t already committed:
Majur Majak
Majak is the Orange’s biggest target after Roberts turned down SU for Washington and Mike Hopkins. He’s also the tallest the Orange has gone after this recruiting cycle at 7-1. From Sudan, Majak came to the U.S. as part of the “Basketball Without Borders” program and plays in New Jersey. He doesn’t have a Syracuse scholarship in front of him yet, but he has pulled offers from Washington, UConn, Rutgers and more.
It’s still early in Majak’s recruiting process. The Orange got in as the first ACC team to show interest, but there are still schools from the Big Ten, Pac 12 and American conferences. More will be coming. If Syracuse is planning on offering Majak a scholarship and pursuing him further, he would be the last person the Orange
Majak‚Äôs size alone would put the Orange in better shape for 2018. His abilities still need polishing, but you can‚Äôt teach 7-1. Boeheim would love to stick Majak in the 2-3 zone for 35 minutes and watch him work. As Boeheim has showed, Syracuse doesn‚Äôt a center to score to be successful — it needs someone like Majak to send opposing shots into the third row.
Dimon Carrigan
If anyone other than Majak were to join Syracuse’s 2018 class, it would be forward Dimon Carrigan. Carrigan is a Massachusetts native who will play this season at Woodstock Academy in Connecticut. He’s the only SU target who has shown any recent interest in the Orange. Syracuse offered Carrigan this summer after his standout play in the Nike EYBL circuit.
Carrigan is a 6-9 forward, but much different than the 6-9 forward SU is already getting in Bazley. Carrigan works in the paint. He put up the best blocking stats the EYBL has ever seen with over three per game, and also averaged double-digit points and rebounds.
Carrigan hasn‚Äôt said much since releasing his top 8 schools in August — a cut Syracuse made:
My top 8‚ĺÔ∏èüíØ pic.twitter.com/4kWrdTG4wi
— Dimon Carrigan (@CarriganDimon) August 1, 2017
The Orange is competing with three other ACC schools for Carrigan’s services as well as Connecticut, so there’s no shortage of competition. He says he’ll take official visits (of which he is only allowed five, so that list of eight will have to shorten soon) before making a decision.
Khalid Moore
SU fans know very little about Khalid Moore, partly because Moore will not be coming to SU. The Orange offered Moore after an Orange Elite Camp in August 2016, along with now-Notre Dame commit Robby Carmody and 2019 guard Isaiah Stewart.
Moore is a wing player with the length that Jim Boeheim loves at 6-6. He’s just a three-star recruit, but has offers from Louisville, Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Pitt in the ACC alone. He won’t be headed to Syracuse or any other top-tier programs; Moore visited Georgia Tech last weekend, and the other schools left on his list are UMass and Seton Hall. The Jamaica, NY native hasn’t thought about the Orange for a while, and the playing opportunity probably isn’t there for him.
Posted: Nathan Dickinson
