Duke Recruiting: Planet Syracuse Getting Nervous Again

You may have noticed that every so often we discuss how Syracuse tends to get in on a recruit early only to see bigger schools move in later and steal them away.

Is it happening again?

It’s a bit early to say, but the pattern is repeating, or at least the first part of it is: Syracuse identified Jalil Bethea early on and has focused on him for some time now.

But he has, in recruiting parlance, blown up, and Duke and Kentucky are now looking at the rising star.

Syracuse is also seeing Miami, Villanova, and Kansas sniffing around and of course NIL changes things, too.

And it’s worth mentioning that while Jim Boeheim was a star, he was pushing 80 when he stepped down and though he was a legend, it’s just not as easy to recruit a teenager when you’re nearly 80.

We don’t know how he’ll do, but at 51, Adrian Autry is closer to a Dutch uncle than he is to a crusty old grandfather. Certainly he should be more relatable.

In a related note, our pals over here ask if Syracuse should drop Duke as its main rival.