As the saying goes, real estate is all about one thing: location, location, location. Apparently, basketball recruitment follows the same philosophy. We’ve been expecting it for a while now, but on Saturday, it became official: the Orange offered Syracuse native and class of 2020 combo guard Symir Torrence.
Syracuse has offered Symir Torrence ‚Äò20 (@EGB_ST4) a scholarship. Go VA!üìöüèÄ pic.twitter.com/f3SQCSz3P5
— Vermont Academy MBB (@VTAcademyHoops) August 25, 2018
Torrence is from the Salt City and initially played his high school basketball at Syracuse Academy of Science where he averaged nearly 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists per game in his final season with the Atoms in 2016-17.
He now attends Vermont Academy, the same prep school that produced former five-star recruit Bruce Brown Jr. who was a second-round draft pick of the Pistons this past summer and Simisola Shittu, a consensus five-star recruit in the class of 2018 who’s committed to Vanderbilt.
The 6-foot-3, 189-pound combo guard is currently ranked as the 61st best player in the Class of 2020 by 247Sports. He hasn’t quite been ranked by ESPN because their recruitment rankings only extend to the top 60 in the class until that class’s senior season, so we should be seeing him move into that board soon as well.
We could even see him move further up the ranks on any and all boards as the year moves forward, especially considering that a lot of scouts and experts alike were incredibly impressed with the summer circuit work he put together over the past few months with his AAU team, the Albany City Rocks. Yes, that’s the same City Rocks program that features the talent of 2019 top-5 recruit Isaiah Stewart who recently included Syracuse in his top 6.
As for what Torrence could bring to SU if he decides to stay at home for college, he’s exactly what Syracuse has been yearning for over the past few seasons. With that nearly 200-pound frame at 6-foot-3, he’s an extremely physical force on both ends. That means offensively he can finish through contact and on the defensive end, he can get a bit more physical with smaller opponents on the guard positions and force a lot of turnovers. He’s also said he loves to play defense and why wouldn’t you want a guy like that?
Torrence is also an excellent shooter, which is something Syracuse has really lacked over the past two seasons. According to VT Academy head coach, Alex Popp, between open gym, practice and the AAU circuit, Torrence shoots it at about a 40% clip from beyond the arc. That kind of lights-out shooting is something that could really make him a lethal threat at the next level.
Although Torrence has said on multiple occasions that he loves his city and it seems like a very logical step for him to play his college ball in that place he loves, there are a number of other competitors for his talents. He currently boasts offers from Butler, Cincinnati, Virginia, Providence and Vanderbilt (the school that’s already got his teammate Shittu locked up).
Nothing is a given with any elite basketball player’s recruitment process, but SU certainly has the upper hand when it comes to Torrence and we could soon see him in the Orange and White that has come to represent the city he loves.
Check out some of Torrence’s highlights from his summer with City Rocks here.
