Class of 2025 SF Aaron Womack (WI) COMMITTED & SIGNED TO SYRACUSE (9/30/24)

[Niastri]

I get the jokes at my expense … that said I stand by my point in that talent and ranking can disagree often and give me as much talent as we can find even if it takes a year or two over being obsessed with ranking.

Red is no Matt Painter right now but Painter has made a living off of finding really good players and classes without lining up top recruits year in year out.

Landing Kiyan with Sadiq is two top 40 kids which is still a strong HS class. Shon on top would be easily a top 10 if not top 5 overall class. Over top of that it would be in the running for a class like Duke has been pulling. Find the right mix of returning guys, portal plus Womack and let’s keep pushing.

More importantly seal the deal with Kiyan and let’s win some games and be clearly a tourney team.

According to the RSCI, White is 20, Anthony is 32 and Abaev is 37.

That class would be worth 214 points, which would definitely be top10 and most years top5.

FWIW, Tyler Jackson is 52, so even if we aren't super high on him, and he's "dropped" in the rankings, he's still got a lot of scouts that like his game.

If he's still in play, a class of White, Anthony, Abaev, Jackson and Womack would be our best class in a long, long time.

Syracuse hasn't even had a top10 class since 2016 with Richardson, Diagna (who?), Lydon and Howard came in 10th. We've been honorable mention twice since then, including last year with Red's first recruiting class.

The last time we had a top10 class where they all made it to campus was back in 2011, which had Christmas, MCW and Cooney.

Our recruiting hasn't been great for a long time.

I think people aren't really understanding how nice of a job Red has done in a short time.

Westry, Starling, Freeman, Moore, White and (probably) Anthony is a serious infusion of talent in only a couple years.

 

[Niastri]

Purdue would arguably be Syracuse level without Jaden Ivey (a Top 100 recruit) or Zack Edey ( who didn't play basketball until his soph year of high school and still got D1 offers)

If Freeman, Sadiq, Kiyan, or someone else come through, then surrounding that level of player with the mid-range level of players Purdue gets is great. Without a star, it doesn't work. I'd argue we'll look like we did the last couple of years where we expected Benny and Judah to be better than they were and the surrounding talent wasn't good enough to get us across the finish line. I do get your point though.

If Benny Williams had played like the 28th best player in his class, JB would still be hanging on, and we'd be enjoying our winning record streak and probably another Sweet Sixteen appearance.

Imagine how much better we would have been with "that" Williams instead of Taylor in our starting lineup.

C’est la vie

 

[Niastri]

People have compared Aaron Womack to former Syracuse players such as a possible Lawrence Moten (myself included) and Wes Johnson. I can see that potential and hope that it is realized.

That said, I will also say if Aaron is as good or better than Robert Braswell (whom I liked), I would be happy.

You might as well compare Womack to Elvir Ovcina, Trevor Cooney and Demetris Nichols.

Wes Johnson and Lawrence Moten were completely different players.

 

[Dinkyspond]

Steve Nash went to Santa Clara because nobody wanted him...

In today's game he'd be lighting up his AAU league in the 8th grade and everybody would go watch him. Then he'd transfer to Oak Hill or IMG or somewhere and be a one and done.

Different day and age, for sure.

Steve Nash has said he wanted to go to Syracuse, but as you mentioned, nobody including Cuse wanted him.

 

[Niastri]

Steve Nash said he wanted to go to Syracuse, but as you said, nobody including Cuse wanted him.

I didn't know that bit about him wanting to play at Syracuse.

I remember watching him in the NCAA tournament and wondering how he was so good playing for a nobody team.

Even then you couldn't predict his Hall of Fame NBA career. But it was obvious he was really good.

 

[Dinkyspond]

I didn't know that bit about him wanting to play at Syracuse.

I remember watching him in the NCAA tournament and wondering how he was so good playing for a nobody team.

Even then you couldn't predict his Hall of Fame NBA career. But it was obvious he was really good.

He grew up in western Canada but was a fan of Cuse

NBA star finally gets to play at SU, his 'dream school'

Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash will play in NBA exhibition game at the Carrier Dome Friday.

www.syracuse.com

 

[50YRsofCuse]

You might as well compare Womack to Elvir Ovcina, Trevor Cooney and Demetris Nichols.

Wes Johnson and Lawrence Moten were completely different players.

No kidding! Negative vibes, man. Be optimistic or you will dry up in your old age.

Moten was an afterthought that materialize into our all-time scorer.
‘Johnson was an all-round skilled and good player that ended up leading the team his only year playing at Syracuse.

Both players surprised everyone on how good they were.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

??? Eddie Sutton won over 800 games and went to three final fours with three different schools. It isn't like he was a stiff.

Right, but he blew that game. Barnes was also a good coach.

 

[Niastri]

No kidding! Negative vibes, man. Be optimistic or you will dry up in your old age.

Moten was an afterthought that materialize into our all-time scorer.
‘Johnson was an all-round skilled and good player that ended up leading the team his only year playing at Syracuse.

Both players surprised everyone on how good they were.

Fair enough.

I thought they were comparing Womack's game to both of those guys. You could find players with games less similar, but it was already bordering on ridiculous.

My mistake.

 

[dasher]

Right, but he blew that game. Barnes was also a good coach.

He got beat by a better team.

 

[DomeHolmes]

People have compared Aaron Womack to former Syracuse players such as a possible Lawrence Moten (myself included) and Wes Johnson. I can see that potential and hope that it is realized.

That said, I will also say if Aaron is as good or better than Robert Braswell (whom I liked), I would be happy.

Exactly. Colgate beat us with 5 guys no one ever heard of. Time will tell about Aaron. The 12th or 13th guys SHOULD be developmental guys who are psyched to be at Cuse and ok with no PT unless they really impress. Most of the guys with “stronger offers” that didn’t get early playing time here were no good at Oklahoma ST, Providence , Charlotte, etc when they transferred.

 

[Hopkins16]

Exactly. Colgate beat us with 5 guys no one ever heard of. Time will tell about Aaron. The 12th or 13th guys SHOULD be developmental guys who are psyched to be at Cuse and ok with no PT unless they really impress. Most of the guys with “stronger offers” that didn’t get early playing time here were no good at Oklahoma ST, Providence , Charlotte, etc when they transferred.

Womack is a 4 year program guy who is supposed to develop and get into the rotation by year 2 and get more minutes each year. He's not a guy we should have known about as he is not a high level recruit. The fact that he received offers from high major schools after visiting SU over the weekend confirms that other schools have spies and watch to see which kids we bring in. It's a credit to Red that we have on our radar guys who are not highly recruited but are skilled, and not the projects that we have given scholarships to over the past several years (he is not Chaz Owens, the Autry kid, Patterson or Carey). Womack is comparable to one of the 5 guys Colgate beat us with. We've complained on this board that we should be targeting competent mid level school players who are better than some of the guys we've recruited. We have one in Womack and we are complaining that he's an unknown and a last resort because we can't get the guys we've been after. Just watch his tape and you see a basketball player with skills who needs to continue to develop and get stronger. Not just a guy who has length and "looks" like a basketball player but has minimal skills and basketball instinct. Womack is a good find.

 

[Sherman20]

Purdue would arguably be Syracuse level without Jaden Ivey (a Top 100 recruit) or Zack Edey ( who didn't play basketball until his soph year of high school and still got D1 offers)

If Freeman, Sadiq, Kiyan, or someone else come through, then surrounding that level of player with the mid-range level of players Purdue gets is great. Without a star, it doesn't work. I'd argue we'll look like we did the last couple of years where we expected Benny and Judah to be better than they were and the surrounding talent wasn't good enough to get us across the finish line. I do get your point though.

Yeah, we’ll need a star. That will have to come from the portal, unless Starling continues to steadily improve but also decides to stay for his senior year. Our outlook for this season would have been very different if we had enticed Erick Reynolds from St Joe’s out of the portal to come here.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

Feel the same way let the man build his program

Move upside and let the man go through?

 

[RyanCuse44]

Well, you are wrong. We have been on him for awhile. the coaches think he is really good. We have been worried that he might get an offer from a couple of local schools and that we would be out. This is very far away from being a settle. And not for nothing, that it is October should tell you that.

If he turns out to be another Elijah Hughes sign me up.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Remember Hurley built his culture before he started winning and getting high level players. Red seems to be doing both.

 

[longtimefan]

You think Durant was as good as Melo was in college? You're the only person on the planet that thinks this.

Well, Durant was national POY, and Melo wasn't. Of course, Melo's success (transcendence?) opened the door for all of the freshmen who folowed.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Yeah, we’ll need a star. That will have to come from the portal, unless Starling continues to steadily improve but also decides to stay for his senior year. Our outlook for this season would have been very different if we had enticed Erick Reynolds from St Joe’s out of the portal to come here.

I'd feel better about recruiting if we could sign a legit PG. We are always going to be fine at positions 2-4. Center and PG have been a problem for years.

 

[Orangezoo]

I'd feel better about recruiting if we could sign a legit PG. We are always going to be fine at positions 2-4. Center and PG have been a problem for years.

I feel like we just need to have a very large chunk of budget in NIL and either get our top option out of HS or go big in the portal. Obviously much bigger than Carlos (no offense to him) but this year is a bit different.

 

[albanycuse]

Womack is a 4 year program guy who is supposed to develop and get into the rotation by year 2 and get more minutes each year. He's not a guy we should have known about as he is not a high level recruit. The fact that he received offers from high major schools after visiting SU over the weekend confirms that other schools have spies and watch to see which kids we bring in. It's a credit to Red that we have on our radar guys who are not highly recruited but are skilled, and not the projects that we have given scholarships to over the past several years (he is not Chaz Owens, the Autry kid, Patterson or Carey). Womack is comparable to one of the 5 guys Colgate beat us with. We've complained on this board that we should be targeting competent mid level school players who are better than some of the guys we've recruited. We have one in Womack and we are complaining that he's an unknown and a last resort because we can't get the guys we've been after. Just watch his tape and you see a basketball player with skills who needs to continue to develop and get stronger. Not just a guy who has length and "looks" like a basketball player but has minimal skills and basketball instinct. Womack is a good find.

Who else offered him after his visit?

 

[MamesJungro]

I don't think that's accurate, as Dasher has indicated.

To me, this will be an early "test" of our new program GM, Alex Kline, and his use of advanced analytics to evaluate prospects. If Womack ends up panning out, I'll feel a lot more confident going forward about how the coaches / Kline are using data-driven analytics to identify portal transfers from smaller programs.

I'd be really nervous if we applied "advanced analytics" to kids like this. I'm not sure how you'd be able to get your hands on anything resembling a viable dataset to do anything predictive while also accounting for highly variable, normal 16-year-old things like growth spurts, comp level, nutrition, and coaching.

Transfers are a whole different ball game, but these are the types of kids where you look at measurable and form and fit before you offer

 

[Orangezoo]

I'd be really nervous if we applied "advanced analytics" to kids like this. I'm not sure how you'd be able to get your hands on anything resembling a viable dataset to do anything predictive while also accounting for highly variable, normal 16-year-old things like growth spurts, comp level, nutrition, and coaching.

Transfers are a whole different ball game, but these are the types of kids where you look at measurable and form and fit before you offer

Mikes article with the young man whose working with the team, who they also did a podcast with mentioned using the analytics in the review of Womack.

Behind available statistics you can do your own using full game tape too. You don’t have to rely on basic box scores and I’d imagine the staff has ample game tape for Eugene to use when doing his analysis.

 

[RF2044]

I'd be really nervous if we applied "advanced analytics" to kids like this. I'm not sure how you'd be able to get your hands on anything resembling a viable dataset to do anything predictive while also accounting for highly variable, normal 16-year-old things like growth spurts, comp level, nutrition, and coaching.

Transfers are a whole different ball game, but these are the types of kids where you look at measurable and form and fit before you offer

Why?

Kline was a guy who worked in an NBA front office. He has great insight into how to evaluate players. It doesn't imply "advanced analytics" on just stats.

 

[CardiacCuse]

You might as well compare Womack to Elvir Ovcina, Trevor Cooney and Demetris Nichols.

Wes Johnson and Lawrence Moten were completely different players.

womack actually reminds me of...Kiyan Anthony

maybe the thinking is to get him a good sparring partner...a twin he can practice against...anyone else seeing it?

 

[MikeSU02]

Mikes article with the young man whose working with the team, who they also did a podcast with mentioned using the analytics in the review of Womack.

Behind available statistics you can do your own using full game tape too. You don’t have to rely on basic box scores and I’d imagine the staff has ample game tape for Eugene to use when doing his analysis.

Not sure about the podcast, but the article said “likely”… I know it’s nitpicking, but it’s there.

One likely example of Tulyagijja’s influence is the recent commitment of Aaron Womack, a 6-foot-5 guard from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Womack is considered a three-star recruit and ranked outside the top-100 players in the 2025 class by all the major recruiting sites.