It’s the end of September and Syracuse still does not have a recruit on the board in the upcoming recruiting cycle. It’s not for a lack of trying, as the Orange are pushing hard for guys and coming up empty. But, at this time last season SU had three guys on board. Justin Taylor, Quadir Copeland, and Peter Carey had already pledged their services with Maliq Brown and Chris Bunch doing so in October. It’s a whole new game one year later.
2022 was a cycle that Jim Boeheim and his staff had circled for a while. It is the first group of players in the post-Boeheim playing era with Buddy and Jimmy out the door. The Orange had a commit in early 2020 in Dior Johnson (we all know how that went), but it shows how early this thing was getting going. But, there’s a story to tell when it comes to why the cupboard is empty compared to a year ago.
Last cycle, Syracuse handed out 21 offers to high school players in the class of 2022. So far in 2023, the Orange have only handed out 12 offers, and it’s almost October. The same goes for visits. Only three of those 12 offers have turned into official visits to campus for Boeheim. Of the 21 offers handed out to 2022 recruits, 10 players officially visited, which turned into six commitments. Obviously, everyone is different and every year is different. But, there‚Äôs a clear trend.
The case can be made that the large recruiting class in 2022 was a make-up for only bringing in one freshman in 2021 compared to multiple transfers that only ended up playing one season. Maybe 2022 was an aberration and simply just a restocking of the cupboard, while the classes from here on out will be in that smaller range. The transfer portal can be taken into account as well.
It’s not necessary to have 4-6 freshmen on a roster when you can just pluck experienced guys from the portal. But, there’s always a risk that comes with that. If someone is transferring, something clearly went wrong at the original program, and that comes with baggage. A freshman is unproven and can offer potentially more upside than a transfer moving on to their second team.
Looking to 2024 as well, players are already flying off the board. Syracuse has handed out five offers and had no official visits so far. SU has hosted plenty of players at its annual Elite Camp in August at the Melo Center but gained no traction because of it.
So, in closing, Syracuse is now into the fall with nothing to show in recruiting. There are still guys on the board and inevitably something will happen, but as of right now, it’s looking bleak, and this class will be ranked nowhere near where 2022 was at the top of the ACC. Only time will tell when SU can get on the board in 2023.
