Syracuse Basketball: 4-Star Wing Jordan Tucker Trims List Down
More bad news for the Syracuse basketball team. This time by way of the recruiting, which hasn’t been turning out great for SU this year.
The Syracuse basketball team cannot catch a break.
On Wednesday afternoon, reports surfaced that five-star SU target Hamidou Diallo may enroll at Connecticut next semester.
That evening, the Orange suffered its worst home loss in the history of head coach Jim Boeheim’s tenure, getting demolished by lowly St. Johns.
Now, on Thursday morning, another ‘Cuse recruiting prospect, four-star wing Jordan Tucker, said in an online interview that his finalists are Indiana and Villanova, the defending national champions.
The 6-7 small forward, a native of White Plains, N.Y., currently attends Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga., near Atlanta. He is a top-40 prospect nationally, according to ESPN.com and 247Sports, with both Web sites listing him as the No. 8 small forward.
Tucker, a high-volume shooter who can play small forward and big guard, had held offers from about a dozen programs, including Arizona, Louisville and Maryland.
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Strangely, on Thursday afternoon, the 247Sports Crystal Ball still listed Syracuse as the front-runner, at 44 percent, followed by Indiana (25 percent) and Villanova (19 percent). I suspect those percentages will change pretty darn soon.
It’s unclear how aggressively SU coaches had recruited Tucker of late. They offered him a scholarship in September of 2014, according to 247Sports.
In recent months, I’ve read in numerous chat rooms and on message boards that Boeheim and his
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staff perhaps elected to pass on Tucker, due to some maturity issues. But I want to caution this could just prove unsubstantiated rumors.
Whatever the case, Tucker isn’t headed to Central New York.
The Orange, unfortunately, has struck out on a bevy of top-flight targets in the 2017 class. Guys such as Diallo (likely), Tucker, Shai Alexander, Quade Green, Billy Preston, Nick Richards and Lonnie Walker.
Frustrating, to say the least.
The Orange has secured commitments from Oshae Brissett and Bourama Sidibe, two lower-ranked, yet extremely promising, prospects. ‘Cuse has several other offers out there, but the well is undoubtedly drying up.
Syracuse stands to lose at least four players after this season, and possibly more, depending on whether there are any guys who declare early for the NBA Draft, or decide to transfer. I’m hoping neither is the case.
Depth in the frontcourt for the 2017-18 campaign seems fine. However, the Orange desperately needs additional guards.
Boeheim has said that we must chill out when it comes to missing on recruits. I heed his advice – sort of.
With all of the recent negativity surrounding the SU program, I can’t help but feel a bit pessimistic.
Christmas arrives in a few days. Maybe Santa will bring us a gift, and the sun will shine on Syracuse once again.