Syracuse might have put the cherry on top of a program-changing class. Chris Bunch, a four-star forward from Wasatch Academy, just chose the Orange over Washington and Rutgers.
Bunch is rated as the 72nd-best player in the class of 2022 by 247sports.com, the third best player in Utah and a consensus four-star across all recruiting sites. The Oklahoma native stands 6-foot-8, 175 pounds, and profiles as a scoring wing Рnot yet as built or as skilled as Oshae Brissett just yet, but someone with the talent and drive to become that level of player. His jump shot is smooth, a little long at times, but the mechanics are repeatable. He is comfortable working from the short corner or pulling up in the midrange. His length allows him to score over smaller players and protect the ball from bigs at the rim. Bunch is a high-IQ defender, especially off-the-ball. He’s not ridiculously quick from side-to-side, but he works well trapping and getting to his help positions, skills needed in the 2-3 zone/
Bunch told Sports Illustrated after his first visit to SU the Orange already have a plan to utilize his skills.
“Talking to them and watching some film in the film room, basically it’s me coming in and them putting me in my spots to score,” Bunch said. “Me coming in immediately as a freshman, being a priority. They told me multiple times I’m really the only kid at the position that they’re recruiting hard. I’m who they want. I’m their priority. Just coming in and, maybe not being the number one guy, but being a scorer. And if that’s the number one guy I don’t know what is.”
The forward also gelled well with his new teammates on his first trip to the SU campus.
“I was mainly hanging out with Buddy and the point guard Sy (Torrence) who just got there from Marquette,” Bunch said. “I was hanging out with those two. It was really good. They basically treated me like a teammate. Showing me around, letting me chill with them at night, we had dinner over, letting me be comfortable and being friendly. That’s one thing is that they were all friendly, coming up to me and having conversations. It was cool to hang out with everyone. The kid from Villanova (Cole Swider), he just transferred too, but they all treated me really well. Great people.”
Bunch joins a packed class of 2022 that’s now a complete starting five. He can join Maliq Brown on the wings, with Justin Taylor and Quadir Copeland up top and Peter Carey in the middle (keep in mind, this is all after the decommitment of Kamari Lands). Syracuse’s recruiting haul is now ranked 10th in the nation.
