Syracuse, N.Y. – In successive seasons, the Syracuse men’s basketball program has the chance to pull in five-star basketball recruits.
Kiyan Anthony, currently a four-star, added Friday to what appears to be a resurgence in Orange basketball recruiting.
After Anthony committed to Syracuse on Friday, the recruiting website 247sports.com ranked the Orange’s 2025 recruiting class No. 6 nationally. That will likely change as more top players commit to programs, but right now Syracuse is swimming in a splashy recruiting pool with Duke, Kentucky, UConn, Notre Dame and Mississippi State.
Last year, the Orange got a commitment from Donnie Freeman, a five-star prospect ranked No. 13 nationally by 247sports.com’s composite rankings. (For consistency, we’ve used that ranking for every Syracuse player since 2003, when the service began.)
Earlier this year, four-star Sadiq White committed to Syracuse. As the 29th-ranked player in his class, he could theoretically become a five-star recruit before the year is over. So could Anthony, ranked No. 32 right now.
White was followed by Aaron Womack (three-star) and Luke Fennell (four-star). Then, Anthony agreed to play for SU.
Syracuse has not registered back-to-back five-star signings since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.
SU’s 2007 class was particularly significant since it featured two five-stars in Donte Greene (7) and Jonny Flynn (18). In 2006, Paul Harris (10) committed to the Orange.
Last year, SU received commitments from Freeman (13th) and Elijah Moore (99th), both top-100 prospects. This year, White (No. 29) and Anthony (No. 32) were among the Syracuse pledges.
Adam Finkelstein, 247sports.com’s director of scouting, said the Syracuse staff under second-year head coach Adrian Autry has elevated the way the program recruits high school players.
“I think that was really the marching orders coming in,” Finkelstein said. “They recognized the brand wasn’t necessarily carrying the same cache on the recruiting trail as it once was. And they were really trying to elevate that again. I think they’re doing a really good job of that, not just in high school, but JJ Starling and Chance Westry – those guys were priority recruits coming out of high school.”
An analysis of every SU recruiting class since 2003 (sadly, the data does not reach to Carmelo Anthony’s class) shows Syracuse is pulling top-level recruits at a rate it enjoyed years ago.
SU last had an entire recruiting class in the Top 100 in 2016, when Tyus Battle (36th), Matt Moyer (67th) and Taurean Thompson (75th) committed. The year before that, SU enticed Malachi Richardson (31st), Tyler Lydon (70th) and Frank Howard (85th) to play in Syracuse. None of those players were five-star recruits.
One can argue with rankings, with good reason. These are evaluations based on subjective analysis.
But the rankings offer the only way to sort the “value” of high school prospects. And before the Orange received a commitment from Donnie Freeman, it had not lured a five-star player to Syracuse since Fab Melo in 2010.
Autry has said his staff will likely not recruit large classes of high school players to Syracuse, but the Orange could lose eight or more players from this year’s roster. Some will exhaust their college eligibility. Some might elect to turn pro. Some could transfer.
SU worked the transfer portal last season to unearth position players it needed.
But securing commitments from prized high-priority high school recruits remains an important part of the process.
“Roster construction is so different now than it was 3-5 years ago,” Finkelstein said. “You have to replace your upperclassmen in addition to bringing in some five-star freshmen, or highly recruited freshmen. It makes the landscape all the more challenging. But I think certainly they are on their way back to bringing the brand back to where it was.”
SU’s high school recruiting classes (rankings based on 247sports.com composites)
2025
29 – Sadiq White (4-star)
32 – Kiyan Anthony (4-star)
155 – Luke Fennell (3-star)
267 – Aaron Womack (3-star)
2024
13 – Donnie Freeman (5-star)
99 – Elijah Moore (4-star)
INT – Petar Majstorovic (France)
2023
NR – William Patterson
2022
54 – Judah Mintz (4-star)
110 – Chris Bell (4-star)
128 – Justin Taylor (4-star)
140 – Quadir Copeland (3-star)
247 – Maliq Brown (3-star)
252 – Peter Carey (3-star)
2021
32 – Benny Williams (4-star)
2020
90 – Kadary Richmond (4-star)
145 – Woody Newton (3-star)
199 – Frank Anselem (3-star)
2019
97 – Brycen Goodine (4-star)
131 – Quincy Guerrier (4-star)
200 – Jesse Edwards (3-star)
203 – Joe Girard (3-star)
466 – John Bol Ajak (3-star)
2018
61 – Jalen Carey (4-star)
156 – Robert Braswell (3-star)
333 – Buddy Boeheim (3-star)
2017
105 – Marek Dolezaj (4-star)
132 – Oshae Brissett (4-star)
189 – Bourama Sidibe (3-star)
284 – Howard Washington (3-star)
2016
36 – Tyus Battle (4-star)
67 – Matt Moyer (4-star)
75 – Taurean Thompson (4-star)
2015
31 – Malachi Richardson (4-star)
70 – Tyler Lydon (4-star)
85 – Frank Howard (4-star)
2014
20 – Chris McCullough (4-star)
51 – Kaleb Joseph (4-star)
2013
22 – Tyler Ennis (4-star)
50 – Tyler Roberson (4-star)
95 – BJ Johnson (4-star)
178 – Chino Obokoh (3-star)
184 – Ron Patterson (3-star)
2012
21 – Dajuan Coleman (4-star)
44 – Jerami Grant (4-star)
2011
19 – Rakeem Christmas (4-star)
28 – Michael Carter-Williams (4-star)
107 – Trevor Cooney (4-star)
2010
14 – Fab Melo (5-star)
23 – Dion Waiters (4-star)
85 – CJ Fair (4-star)
148 – Baye Moussa Keita (3-star)
2009
95 – Brandon Triche (4-star)
118 – DaShonte Riley (4-star)
NR – James Southerland*
2008
47 – Mookie Jones (4-star)
68 – Kris Joseph (4-star)
2007
7 – Donte Greene (5-star)
18 – Jonny Flynn (5-star)
53 – Scoop Jardine (4-star)
65 – Rick Jackson (4-star)
267 – Kristof Ongenaet (3-star)
276 – Sean Williams (3-star)
2006
10 – Paul Harris (5-star)
43 – Mike Jones (4-star)
147 – Devin Brennan-McBride (3-star)
2005
35 – Eric Devendorf (4-star)
141 – Arinze Onuaku (3-star)
NR – Andy Rautins
2004
49 – Josh Wright (4-star)
116 – Dayshawn Wright (4-star)
2003
25 – Darryl Watkins (4-star)
27 – Demetris Nichols (4-star)
42 – Terrence Roberts (4-star)
79 – Louie McCroskey (4-star)
*James Southerland originally committed to SU in the Class of 2008, did not qualify and went to prep school for a year.
