Who Else Can Syracuse Land In The Class of 2013?

By Sean Fernandez

The commitment of Tyler Ennis gave Syracuse their first member of the class of 2013. Jim Boeheim and his staff should give themselves a pat on the back for landing the prized point guard, but there is still a good amount of recruiting left to be done. Going forward, a number of recruits in the class of 2013 have SU listed as schools they are considering. We’ll take a look at the profiles of the guys who could join Ennis.

Rondae Jefferson is a 6’7” small forward from Chester, Pennsylvania. He is a 5-star recruit on ESPN, ranked 14th in the top 100 in the class of 2013. Jefferson plays well on both sides of the ball, and can score from all over. He is currently down to 7 schools: Arizona, Temple, Rutgers, Syracuse, Memphis, Texas, and Florida. Our friends at PointGuardU.Com talked to him a few weeks ago.. He will announce his decision on his birthday, which is January 3rd. Mark the date!

Jermaine Lawrence is also a 5-star recruit in the class of 2013. Rivals has him rated as the 19th player in the class. He is a 6’9” power forward from the Bronx, deciding between a top 3 of Syracuse, Florida, and Rutgers. Scouts have been impressed by his athletic ability, as he is a big man that can get out into transition and blow by the opposition.


Next up is Tyler Roberson, a 6’7” forward from Roselle Catholic High School in Union, NJ. He, like Jefferson, is a very versatile player that is difficult to guard and can have a big impact on the wing in Syracuse’s patented 2-3 zone. He posted a blog entry on Zagsblog.com, saying the following.

Ishmail Wainright is yet another small forward that has shown interest in Syracuse. He committed to Missouri a while back, but has since de-commited. Reports have said that his hometown ‘Mizzou’ Tigers are still in the hunt, as well as Syracuse, Kansas, Florida, and Duke. Summarizing his game, he stands at 6’6” and is a brilliant defender.

The 6’9” Kuran Iverson (cousin of A.I.) is also considering heading to upstate New York to become an Orange. His list has been narrowed down to Florida, Syracuse, UConn, and Memphis, also according to Adam Zagoria. He recently visited UConn, and apparently enjoyed his time there. Iverson’s talent isn’t really a question, but the 26th overall player on the ESPNU top 100 list has been inconsistent on the offensive end at times.

Big men Goodluck Okonoboh and BeeJay Anya have also been linked to Syracuse at one point or another, but they have yet to narrow their lists down significantly. Okonoboh visited SU with his teammate Nerlens Noel for the UConn game on February 11th. Anya currently attends DeMatha Catholic High School, the alma mater of incoming freshman Jerami Grant.

Getting a commitment from one, two, or even three of these guys would obviously be a huge boost to the Syracuse recruiting class of 2013. There is a lot of competition between top schools to land each of these players, but getting Tyler Ennis may help.

UPDATE---

2013 G Wayne Selden has has just listed a top-6, and it includes Syracuse. The list: Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio State, Syracuse, and UCLA. In no order. He is a 6'5" two-guard that attacks the basket with great confidence and unparalleled strength. (Can you say Dion Waiters?) His recruitment has picked up recently as he reclassified to the class of 2013 from the C/o 2014 in June. Look for the SU staff to be persistent in their pursuit of Selden, who has the potential to be a star.

ESPN has him as a 5-star, the 13th overall player (2nd SG) in the class, Rivals has him 20th overall and a 4-star prospect. He attends The Tilton School in Tilton, NH, and plays his AAU ball for BABC (Boston Amateur Basketball Club), both of which Kentucky center Nerlens Noel played for.