50YRsofCuse
Syracuse Fan in Florida and in SC
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- Oct 26, 2016
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What a whirlwind (roller coaster) recruiting season this past year has been! After getting Benny Williams in 2020-2021 recruiting season and then loading up with Cole Swider, Symir Torrence and Jimmy Boeheim through the portal, we had great expectations for 2021-2022 recruiting.
It started out with Dior Johnson and the wealth of recruits he would attract. He had a posse of players like Chance Westry, Zion Cruz and others (maybe Donovan Clinghan, 7’ center) he felt would come to Syracuse if he was there. Well, that fell apart quickly. Dior de-committed and Zion Cruz never seemed interested to come here. Chance Westry would have committed in his junior season but his ?handlers? had more of a say. At least we were in Clingan sweepstakes and we tried for Jarace Walker, Ty Rogers, Kamari Lands and Justin Taylor. Well Clinghan did not want to leave his home state but Kamari Lands committed which turned off Ty Rogers and Jarace Walker (who did not seem to be interested in Syracuse).
Then, Kamari Lands decommitted but that was okay, he still considered Syracuse as one of schools he would go to. Guess that statement was to placate Syracuse until he could find a more profitable location (Louisville). Showed strong interest in Kyle Filipowski, a 6’11’‘ PF who wasn’t in the Top 100 when Syracuse offered. He climbed quickly signed with Duke and finished as a top 3 recruit by some services.
Justin Taylor, 6’7” SG/SF came in, liked what he saw, was friends with Benny Williams and committed (and importantly did not decommit and it turns out he had friends also).
Out of the Syracuse Invitational Camp, we had interest in Peter Carey, a slender 7 footer with potential. Quadir Copeland, a 6’6” point guard came for an official visit and both committed.
Chris Branch, 6’8” athlete selected Syracuse over the University of Washington. Maliq Brown, a 6’9” forward and a friend of Justin Taylor came in for a visit and decided to commit.
Copeland and Taylor both transferred to the same school and had a year of playing together. Finally, Judah Mintz, a 6’3” CG who had committed earlier to Pittsburgh, had second thoughts and reopened his recruitment. He had a top four school of DePaul, Syracuse, NC State and Wake Forest. It seem to come down to DePaul (where Zion Cruz committed) and Syracuse. As we all know, he selected Syracuse.
Instead of 4-5 five star recruits (several viewed as great potential as players and head cases), Syracuse ended up with a class that has at three 4 stars, two 3 stars and a player who missed playing his junior and senior years of high school but is viewed as high potential. The overall Chemistry of this class is extremely high.
It started out with Dior Johnson and the wealth of recruits he would attract. He had a posse of players like Chance Westry, Zion Cruz and others (maybe Donovan Clinghan, 7’ center) he felt would come to Syracuse if he was there. Well, that fell apart quickly. Dior de-committed and Zion Cruz never seemed interested to come here. Chance Westry would have committed in his junior season but his ?handlers? had more of a say. At least we were in Clingan sweepstakes and we tried for Jarace Walker, Ty Rogers, Kamari Lands and Justin Taylor. Well Clinghan did not want to leave his home state but Kamari Lands committed which turned off Ty Rogers and Jarace Walker (who did not seem to be interested in Syracuse).
Then, Kamari Lands decommitted but that was okay, he still considered Syracuse as one of schools he would go to. Guess that statement was to placate Syracuse until he could find a more profitable location (Louisville). Showed strong interest in Kyle Filipowski, a 6’11’‘ PF who wasn’t in the Top 100 when Syracuse offered. He climbed quickly signed with Duke and finished as a top 3 recruit by some services.
Justin Taylor, 6’7” SG/SF came in, liked what he saw, was friends with Benny Williams and committed (and importantly did not decommit and it turns out he had friends also).
Out of the Syracuse Invitational Camp, we had interest in Peter Carey, a slender 7 footer with potential. Quadir Copeland, a 6’6” point guard came for an official visit and both committed.
Chris Branch, 6’8” athlete selected Syracuse over the University of Washington. Maliq Brown, a 6’9” forward and a friend of Justin Taylor came in for a visit and decided to commit.
Copeland and Taylor both transferred to the same school and had a year of playing together. Finally, Judah Mintz, a 6’3” CG who had committed earlier to Pittsburgh, had second thoughts and reopened his recruitment. He had a top four school of DePaul, Syracuse, NC State and Wake Forest. It seem to come down to DePaul (where Zion Cruz committed) and Syracuse. As we all know, he selected Syracuse.
Instead of 4-5 five star recruits (several viewed as great potential as players and head cases), Syracuse ended up with a class that has at three 4 stars, two 3 stars and a player who missed playing his junior and senior years of high school but is viewed as high potential. The overall Chemistry of this class is extremely high.
