August 4, 2006
Projected 2007-2008 Roster:Senior: Josh Wright (PG)
Juniors: Eric Devenderf (G), Arinze Onuaku (BF/C), Andy Rautins (G)
Sophomores: Paul Harris (G), Mike Jones (F), Devin Brennan-McBride (BF/C)
Freshmen: Johnny Flynn (PG), Antonio Jardine (G), Donte Green (F), Richard Jackson (BF), Sean Williams (C)
There is a good chance that Jim Boeheim found some extra time this summer to hone his skills on the golf course because the Hall of Fame basketball coach did not have a lot of work to do on the recruiting trail. The Orange had locked up a top-10 class months ago for 2007 and all they had to do this summer was watch how high the stock went on their players and start planting the seeds for the class of 2008.
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Headlining the class are a pair of McDonald's All-American candidates in Donte Green and Johnny Flynn. Green was the talk of the NIKE camp in Indianapolis this summer and his play with Team Melo (see a connection?) only enhanced his reputation all summer long. The long, lean and athletic forward looks to be a high-end recruit that is beginning to generate top-10 status nationally. The Orange were in early and their past success with Carmelo Anthony, who attended the same high school in the DC-area, had the Orange in front from the beginning.
The player whose stock might have exploded th emost among Big East recruits this past summer was that of Johnny Flynn. The Niagara Falls HS PG was impressive on the AAU circuit from the beginning of the spring and continued his high-level of play at the ABCD camp in New Jersey. Flynn is pushing for top-25 status and has shown a myriad of skills as a lead guard and has always been a high-character kid. He is former HS and AAU teammate of incoming SU frosh Paul Harris, again, a strong connection to the program.
The other pair of early commits that the Orange received came from a pair of Philadelphia HS teammates, Rick Jackson and Antonio Jardine. Playing for the high-profile Neumann-Goretti program and the Playaz AAU club, these two have been on the national radar for a long time. Jackson gives SU more of a low-block threat offensively and on the boards than what they are used to and Jardine is a combo guard that can score and is working on improving his court savvy, but with Flynn in the backcourt with him, he won't have to play the point guard too often and be free to do what he does best, create offense.
The fifth member of the SU class is the incredibly long Sean Williams out of California. Williams is an extremely raw prospect, but with a wingspan of greater than 7'8, this is a high-upside prospect that has all the potential to be a great one, but needs a lot of fine-tuning. There is the chance he could opt for a season of prep school before enrolling and become part of the class of 2008, but Syracuse thought enough of his potential to attach themselves to him very early in the process.
With all that talent, Syracuse has just one remaining scholarship. They are most likely to keep that 'ship in their pocket this year to have two available for 2008 as it stands now, but that could easily change with a roster move or two. In the meantime, they have been spotted evaluating some additional big men in the class of 2007 in more of a just in case mode. A player like Anthony McClain is someone they have kept an eye on, and, the C position could be the only spot I would recommend them looking to upgrade, especially if Williams looks lik a prep candidate.
It is most likely, with Josh Wright the only 2007-2008 projected senior, that the Orange will hold steady in the class of 2007 and continue to move on with the class of 2008. Last year, they had four of their class of 2007 under wraps by October, I could see them making some aggressive moves on some of the players they like in the class of 2008 this fall as well.
For continuous updates on Orange recruiting, the Orangefan blog is an excellent resource to see what is new with SU recruiting. We will try to keep up on the happenings with the Orange as well.
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