Syracuse basketball could be on the verge of landing a 2027 five-star priority recruiting target. On Tuesday morning, national reporter Joe Tipton of On3/Rivals
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Yeah, seems so.
It feels like about 30 programs or so are at least capable of landing a 5-star in today's NIL world. I honestly think that's a good thing for Illinois. We don't need a return to the world were Kentucky, UNC, Duke, and Kansas divvied about all the Burger Boys.
The fact we seem on track to land some # of our own in the coming years (based on the set of visits we just had) paired with:
- NBA Development (see Ayo, TSJ, Will, KJ, Keaton)
- Euro pipeline (Balkan bloc with an Estonian garnish)
- Domestic portal splashes (TSJ, Dre, Vaaks)
... sets us up to get into that MSU tier of B1G consistency challening perennially for a conference title. That in turns positions us well for low single digit seed pathways into the tournament. Can never have enough bites at the apple preferably multiple as the top seed in the Midwest region. How epic would it be to cut down the nets the year Chicago finally lands the Final Four? I'll settle for Detroit in 2027 though just to stick it to scUM and their little brother.
Right now, I feel like Illinois has an unspoken kinship with every program not named UConn and Duke. Hurley is by far and away the best Xs and Os coach in the game. There's a reason he's 2 of 3 in Natty games in the last 4 years. And Duke will continue to stack future all-NBA level talent (ala Kyrie, Tatum, Banchero, etc.) where their players will appear in commercials during their own college broadcasts (glad we're OAD with the Cam Boozer ads occasionally starring Papa Boozer).
Any time I see a 5-star commiting to a BYU, Syracuse, Ohio State, etc. type program, I'm glad it isn't UConn or Duke. Duke could be a two-time defending champion today if not for unbelievable late tournament capitulations with Flagg/Cam Boozer in your lineup. I fear a regression to the mean with Duke - 2001, 2010, 2015... they're kind of "due."
Arkansas I'm not overly concerned about given Coach Cal seems more an effective CEO than a great basketball mind. Kelsey just seems to have a deep purse thanks to wherever the heck Louiville KFC money comes from (shady ah program - see: The Pitino years and vacated title). And Self is just hail mary'ing his final years with the Peterson and Stokes prima donnas. Malone is unproven at the collegiate level - plays a bit different without Jokic and Murray running your offense.
I do think the B1G has the best collective basketball minds in the game given the coaching prowess at MSU, Purdue, Nebraska, and Iowa. And MSU did just land a highly regarded 2027 recruit (Antonio Pemberton) who looks like the heir apparent to The Nutcracker (who imagine will still return for 5 in 5 given limited NBA ceiling). So I hope we can keep our NIL advantage over those programs. Michigan with the Oracle/Elisson money is always a threat. But I hope the shakiness of their football program since the 2023 natty will sway donors to pump more in that direction. Same sentiment with Ohio State.