Amid Syracuse men’s basketball’s position battles, nine wins in 11 games, and the pursuit of prized guard Elijah Moore, it’s easy to lose sight of the team’s other recruiting targets. Fortunately, SU hoops is still doing its due diligence on some of the best talent in the next two upcoming classes – including one quickly-rising prospect currently honing his craft nearly 2,700 miles from the Salt City.
Marcus Adams Jr. is a late riser in the Class of 2023 out of Narbonne High School in Los Angeles, CA. Adams is a 6’8”, 200-pound forward currently rated as a 4-star and as the No. 13 overall player in California by 247Sports. Per the same site, Adams is considering reclassifying to the Class of ‘24, and his recruitment has largely stayed confined to the West Coast. The current senior received a Syracuse offer on December 23rd, but other programs such as USC, UCLA, and New Mexico are vying for Adams’ services.
As recently as late December, Adams was listed as a 3-star by 247Sports, but his stock continues to rise. In an interview with 247Sports, Adams said his recruitment was mostly stagnant until last spring.
“My recruitment really started when I first started playing for Elevate around April…I went from zero to eight offers in two months. Now I have 15 offers.” (Adams to 247Sports, 1/9/23)
Make that 16 offers for Adams, who continues to put up monstrous numbers at Narbonne. During the 2022 Dwan Hurt Holiday Classic, Narbonne won the event thanks in part to a 30-point performance from Adams in the finale. Lately, Adams is putting up even loftier numbers than that in his senior season.
Skillset-wise, Adams is a small forward with “strength and size” and “deep range” to boot. Adams describes his skillset as a versatile one that could play at multiple positions.
“…A mixture of guard, big man, wing, forward…I’m going to try and lock down on defense and do all of the things that coaches want out of a player.” (Adams to 247Sports, 11/29/22)
At the moment, it appears wise that Syracuse bought relatively low on Adams and is watching him rise through recruiting rankings. The Orange may soon get into a battle with other top programs for a player they observed early, much like how Duke swooped in late on former targets Kyle Filipowski and JP Estrella.
As it stands right now, Syracuse has yet to secure a single commitment in either the Class of 2023 or 2024. The Orange are pursuing several targets, but not many besides Adams are forwards. SU currently has a logjam at forward with players like Chris Bell, Benny Williams, Maliq Brown, and Justin Taylor all vying for playing time. However, Adams wouldn’t see the court in an Orange uniform for some time to come even if he commits, and none of ‘Cuse’s current wings are guaranteed to stay with the program. At the time of this writing, there is no current prediction for Adams’ commitment, and Syracuse stands as his most recent offer.
