Syracuse basketball recruiting has been strong in this cycle. Earlier this year, the Orange received verbal commitments from Donnie Freeman and Elijah Moore, both four-star recruits in 247 Sports’ rankings. This week, SU will confirm those commitments when each player signs their National Letter of Intent.
Donnie Freeman, the 28th-ranked recruit, announced that he picked Syracuse back in May. At that point, he wasn’t even a top-100 player in the class of 2024. Over the summer, his stock skyrocketed. Freeman even transferred to IMG Academy for his final year of high school. Even though other colleges, like Texas and Alabama, started to pay closer attention to the shooting guard, Freeman put pen to paper yesterday to officially commit to SU.
Elijah Moore, the 52nd-ranked recruit, picked Syracuse even earlier, in January. The senior at Our Savior Lutheran School in the Bronx is a particularly talented recruit for his state. Moore is the third-highest ranked player in New York. He’ll be officially committed to the Orange over the weekend, when the shooting guard is set to sign his NLI.
While some consider signing a National Letter of Intent to be a formality, in the current landscape of college sports, it’s a significant step. There’s a perfect example close to home. Over the summer, local high school football star Syair Torrence verbally committed to SU. Soon after, he backed out. Since then, Torrence has also decommitted from Michigan State. While that’s an extreme case, the point is that until an NLI is signed, players can change their minds.
With that in mind, these official commitments are a huge deal. It confirms SU’s 2024 recruiting class as a top-30 group in the nation, despite just having two players. Syracuse basketball recruiting is starting on the right foot under Adrian Autry, and that means expectations will only rise.
