With a 10 day break in between Syracuse men’s basketball’s disheartening loss to Pitt and exciting win over Boston College, one would hope the Orange staffers took time to enjoy the holidays and get some R&R with family. However, they better have hit the phones as well. Syracuse’s class of 2023 is going nowhere fast. After a miss on five-star point guard Elliot Cadeau, even with the backing of Adam Weitsman’s NIL offer, SU has no momentum and nothing to show for any recruiting efforts.
The Orange will have most, if not all of the team back (seniors Joe Girard and Jesse Edwards have fifth years of eligibility granted by the COVID season), but aren’t exactly full of stars. The transfer portal will be a free-for-all at the end of the year, just as it’s been for the football team. Surely at least one hooper will look for another place where the grass could be greener. So getting at least one player who could bring skills this team is lacking (rebounding? shooting?) is paramount.
Here are a couple of players Syracuse should be going after until February’s signing day.
Spencer Mahoney
Mahoney is a 6-foot-8 wing from Brooklyn who attends St. Benedict’s Prep in NJ (the ninth-ranked team in the nation according to MaxPreps). The Orange offered him back in August of 2021.
There’s not much buzz around the senior’s recruitment, other than some noise from last year about how he visited Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul. According to 247sports and Mahoney’s twitter page, he is still uncommitted. When Mahoney was interviewed by Jake Weingarten in 2021, this is what he said about the SU offer.
“Cuse offer felt great, Coach Griffin’s pitch was that my game would fit perfectly into their system and that it is close to home.”
Stockrisers
He doesn’t exactly sound enthused…But it would be worth extending another olive branch if you’re Syracuse, because Mahoney’s length, slashing and shooting ability is missing right now in the lineup, and could be inserted right away next year.
Jason Rivera-Torres
Rivera-Torres is a late riser, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Richmond, Virginia. Here’s what 247sports’s Travis Branham had to say about his game:
He’s got size, he’s long, skilled, has great feel and instincts, is tough and impacts the game in every facet…He has great hands, footwork, he’s patient, has a polished shooting stroke, he passes and can create his own if needed.
247sports
Right now, Rivera-Torres has offers from TCU and Penn State, along with multiple mid-majors.
