With the summer in full swing, the Syracuse coaching staff is fresh off its Fourth of July team celebration and onto the recruiting trail. Starting with a familiar face, on Thursday, Adrian Autry and his staff saw 2024 guard and SU commit Elijah Moore in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Moore committed to the Orange back in January and has since been joined by forward Donnie Freeman, who showed out at Peach Jam himself in recent days.
If you’re a Syracuse fan, this is a great sign and show of loyalty and commitment on the end of Autry in making a point to see the players that have made a commitment to his program and vision. In recent years, SU has not recruited at or near the top of the college basketball world. The class of 2022 was a start to change because of the depth and quantity of the class. But, 2023 is just a singular recruit (with a lot of transfers), and that puts a lot of onus on the class of 2024 to be a major opening recruiting statement in the high school ranks for Adrian Autry.
With their current two recruits, the Orange have the 10th ranked class in the 2024 cycle. It would be unrealistic for SU to stay in the top 10 considering its track record of the last few years, but with one or two more commitments, especially from top-100-level guys, the Orange could have their best class in years. In all likelihood, that will be led by Freeman, who has been turning major heads at Peach Jam.
Playing against and with most of the best players in the country, for this kind of praise to be handed out from multiple different people is a high honor for Freeman, who continues to look and fit exactly what Syracuse wants and needs at the forward position. It would not be a surprise to see the SU coaching staff check in with the Washington, D.C. native after their visit with Moore.
There are not many other rumblings of a potential commitment or visit to the Syracuse campus for any other 2024 or 2025 prospects, as most are competing frequently on the AAU circuit. Come August, September, and October, 2024 players will start to fly off the board and we’ll see if Syracuse can get some of the guys it’s developed relationships with to join Moore and Freeman.
But, above all else, it’s a strong move from the Orange coaching staff to go see the guy that gave them a firm commitment, even after Jim Boeheim retired, because it shows how much Autry and his staff care about the future of the program, and what the vision for the future of SU basketball is.
