Syracuse basketball recruiting has been rather quiet over the past month or so on the recruiting trail as football season has heated up, but some news yesterday concerning SU was not great and could have a big impact on how the Orange recruit in the class of 2024, and into the future.
Bethea has long been a top target of the Orange and is one of the best players in the entire senior class. The 13th-ranked player according to the 247 Sports Composite received an offer from Syracuse back in January and is from Pennsylvania, an area that the Orange want to get back to recruiting better.
Bethea canceling his visit, not only to SU, but to other big schools as well after a visit to Miami is highly concerning, because that is a clear indicator that the Hurricanes could have potentially convinced him to suit up for Jim Larrañaga, and made him an offer that he could not refuse.
Bethea would be the perfect third member of the 2024 class for the Orange because of how perfectly he would fit with Elijah Moore and Donnie Freeman. His game of slashing, explosive plays, getting to the basket, and setting up teammates at 6’4 works well as a lead or off-ball guard.
The fantasies of Bethea throwing a lob up to Freeman and that duo becoming the most talented pair of freshmen to play for Syracuse in years are probably doomed, thanks to an ACC rival and longtime Jim Boeheim contemporary.
There are still other guards the Orange are targeting in class, including offers out to Curtis Givens III and Mikey Lewis. But, primarily outside of Bethea, it seems SU is more focused on the class of 2025, given that most of the players on this year’s roster have remaining eligibility and could come back next season.
Just two years after a freshmen class of six, the Orange could continue to stay small in the range of 1-3 players, while also heavily utilizing the transfer portal like they did this year. Only time will tell as to what happens, but it seems like Bethea is headed to Miami, and SU is going to pivot elsewhere.
