Back in January, Syracuse was scheduled to host 5-star combo guard Boogie Fland for a visit for the North Carolina game. When that visit was cancelled, there was some panic among fans (and rightfully so), but it was due to his having a game. Probably the right call. Now, almost six months after that went down, Adrian Autry and company already have a few wins from Fland’s Class of ’24 under their belt in Elijah Moore and Donnie Freeman. Might the guard be the next to join the group?
For starters, Fland’s hometown might give SU a very tiny nudge in the right direction. He hails from White Plains, N.Y. just outside of the Big Apple, a place the Orange have historically recruited fairly well. Staying in your home state has to be at least a little appealing. Former Syracuse Women’s Basketball guard Teisha Hyman is also from White Plains, and even though she transferred to Rhode Island this offseason, there is history of a White Plains to Syracuse pipeline. With how tough getting Fland is going to be, every little detail could make a difference, this being one of them.
Even for a 5-star recruit, the competition for Fland is extremely stiff. Well over 20 schools have offered the guard, and the list is a predictably impressive one. Other ACC schools include Duke, Miami, and North Carolina, and elsewhere in the Power Five you’ve got defending champion UConn, Kansas, Kentucky, Villanova, and a reemerging St. John’s squad among many others. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and this is a golden opportunity to do so off the court for Syracuse. The Orange haven’t added a 5-star recruit on 247 Sports since Fab Melo in 2010, it’s a golden opportunity to change that.
Besides playing with Moore and Freeman, what is going to make SU stand out among others to Fland? The opportunity to, in all likelihood, step into a major role as soon as he steps on campus. The combo guard can fill right in for the holes both Judah Mintz and JJ Starling are going to leave when they likely head for the NBA Draft after the upcoming season. We don’t know if the likes of Chance Westry and Kyle Cuffe among others will still be around to compete for playing time, but those are open minutes right there for the taking. Based off potential alone, Fland would be a natural fit to immediately step in and fill those roles.
The first few months of recruiting in Autry’s tenure have been successful and then some. For as awesome as all of these wins off the court have been, there hasn’t been a true power play move quite yet. Beating out the best in college basketball for a local kid that can contribute right away would fit that mold. It’s going to be tough, but Fland going to Syracuse is not out of the realm of possibility.
