Syracuse Basketball: Billy Preston Chooses Kansas Over 'Cuse, Others
Things aren’t looking good for the Syracuse basketball team, at least for the 2017 campaign. Another recruit bites the dust for the Orange.
The Syracuse basketball team on Friday lost out on a highly ranked recruit.
Big-man Billy Preston, a 6-10 power forward and unanimous top 20 prospect in the 2017 class,
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announced on ESPNU that he will join the University of Kansas next season.
Preston, who selected the Jayhawks over Indiana, Southern California and Syracuse, attends Oak Hill Academy, a powerhouse high-school program in Mouth of Wilson, Va.
In the ESPN 100, he is ranked No. 20, and No. 3 nationally at his position. The 247Sports Composite, meanwhile, has him No. 12 overall, and the No. 5 power forward.
A Los Angeles native, Preston visited the Syracuse campus last month. SU head coach Jim Boeheim also met with Preston at Oak Hill in early October, according to media reports at the time.
Even though the Orange made his final list, most recruiting experts predicted he would commit to Kansas or USC.
The five-star Preston said on ESPNU that when he made his official visit to Kansas, Allen Fieldhouse, where the Jayhawks play, was “ecstatic.”
He noted the relationship that Preston has developed with head coach Bill Self and his staff, saying they have “my best interests at heart.”
Okay, it’s a bummer that Preston passed on the Orange, but SU got into the recruitment game for him fairly late, so I’m not terribly surprised at the outcome.
Although getting into the recruitment game late sometimes pans out, just look at what happened with Quade Green. At least the Orange are 3-0 this season and that’s something to be joyous about.