Syracuse Basketball: Latest rumblings as 4-star DMV guard Derek Dixon set to decide

Toward the end of the month, 2025 four-star guard Derek Dixon from Washington, D.C., plans to make his college decision, and Syracuse basketball is in his top six.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Dixon, a top-50 national prospect in the high school senior class, is down to the Orange, Vanderbilt, Arizona, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Virginia.

Per various media reports, Dixon is expected to make his commitment announcement on September 27. He has taken official visits to all of his finalists, except for Arizona, as Dixon recently canceled his planned official visit to the Wildcats, according to 247Sports national analyst Travis Branham.

Dixon is a standout at Gonzaga College High School in D.C., which is likely to arrive as a preseason top-10 national team ahead of the upcoming 2024-25 campaign. This spring and summer, he played well for the 17U squad of the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league, a grassroots program to which the ‘Cuse staff has deep ties.

Orange coaches offered a scholarship to Dixon on June 15 of last year, when the contact period first opened for 2025 prospects. His first official visit occurred in late September of 2023, and it was to Syracuse basketball.

Amid an NCAA live period on the AAU circuits in late May, the ‘Cuse staff was in attendance for Dixon and Team Takeover. In late June, per reports, Orange head coach Adrian Autry was on hand for two Gonzaga games amid a scholastic live period where prospects competed for their high school teams.

In recent days, I caught up with several recruiting insiders and asked them about the latest in Dixon’s recruiting process. One top analyst told me that Syracuse basketball is not in the running for Dixon at this juncture.

Several analysts said that North Carolina and Pittsburgh seem to be the two leading contenders for him, although things can ebb and flow in a highly ranked player’s recruitment. When I wrote this article on Saturday, there was at least one projection in the direction of Pittsburgh for Dixon on Rivals.com.

Another tidbit to mention. The fall recruiting period began earlier this month, allowing college coaches to conduct in-home visits with recruits as well as check out targets during open gyms at their respective high schools.

Based on X posts from recruiting analysts and Gonzaga’s head coach, Steve Turner, it looks like most if not all of Dixon’s finalists have been at Gonzaga open gyms, except the Orange. I can’t confirm 100 percent that the ‘Cuse wasn’t in for Dixon during an open gym, but it doesn’t appear that the Syracuse basketball staff was.

So what does all of this mean? You never know for sure how things will pan out until a prospect makes his college decision known, however, I’d be surprised if the Orange hears its name called when Dixon announces on September 27.

While Syracuse basketball isn’t likely to prevail for Dixon, ‘Cuse coaches remain in pursuit of several other 2025 four-star guards, such as Kiyan Anthony, Tyler Jackson and Keyshuan Tillery.