Syracuse Women’s Basketball's Newest Recruits
Recruitment and planning for the future is all a part of women’s college basketball. Syracuse women’s basketball managed to land seven new players in their class of 2020 and five in their class of 2021. Coming off of a 16-15 season, the Orange hold a lot of promise for the future with their intense commitment to recruiting players to this prestigious program. Ever since the Orange’s run to the NCAA Championship in 2016, there has been high expectations for this program ever since.
Last year the women’s basketball team landed seven new players who are incoming Freshmen in this year’s class of 2020. This class is highlighted by 5-star recruit Kamilla Cardoso, a 6-foot-6 center who is the highest-rated prospect ever to sign with the program. Syracuse also managed to land another 5-star recruit in 6-foot-2 guard Priscilla Williams. Both players were given 98 overall grades by ESPN’s rankings. The other 2020 recruits are Faith Blackstone a 4-star recruit, Maud Huijbens, Khamya McNeal, Laura Salmeron, and Kiara Fisher who are all 3-star recruits.
Most programs are lucky to be able to track down a couple of players to play for their program. Syracuse likes to go for the gold by bringing in one of the largest recruiting classes in program history by adding seven new players to their roster.
A big part of recruiting players from high school is being able to plan far ahead into the future. Several schools are going to be battling it out for the same player, so it is crucial to show your commitment to that player.
The players colleges are recruiting are most likely coming from out of state and some are even coming from out of the country. For the class of 2021, two out of the five players are from Ontario, Canada.
Geographically, Syracuse managed to recruit two players in Latasha Lattimore and Shayeann Day-Wilson who both play for Crestwood Secondary School in Canada. Lattimore is a 4-star recruit playing the forward position, as she stands at 6-foot-4. Day-Wilson is also a 4-star recruit who plays the guard position, standing at 5-foot-5.
Both players are top-100 prospects, along with Nyah Wilson, according to ESPN. Wilson is also a 4-star recruit, who is a 5-foot-8 guard from Texas. Syracuse also managed to recruit forward Amani Bartlett. Bartlett is a 6-foot-3 forward who also comes from Texas.
The final player from the 2021 recruiting class is guard Julianna Walker, a 5-foot-6 guard who is one of the most prolific scorers in her state’s history. From Washington, Walker is looking to break the Washington State scoring record before she packs her bags and prepares to play collegiate basketball for the Orange.
Chris Hansen who covers college women’s basketball recruiting, had very high praise for Syracuse’s 2020 and 2021 classes. “This group talent wise, the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes combined for Syracuse is much better than the class that took the Orange to the NCAA Championship in 2016,” Hansen said.
Hansen is a managing editor for ProspectsNation.com, provides the rankings for ESPN’s HoopGurlz, and is a McDonalds All-American selection committee member.
Hansen was impressed by Syracuse’s commitment to being able to beat out other SEC and ACC programs to get the players they were able to land in the two recruiting classes.
He was able to work with both Nyah Wilson and Julianna Walker and was impressed by how much they compete on the basketball court. They might not be the highest recruits on scouts lists, but Hansen believes these players will add so much depth to the Orange’s roster.
Since Coach Quentin Hillsman incredible run in 2016, the focus has been on strong recruiting to make sure the team can get back to that level of being able to compete for a National Championship. Since 2016 there has not really been a resurgence for the women’s team. Chris Hansen believes whenever college basketball does resume, this could be the year that Syracuse can once again make a deep run in the tournament.
Syracuse’s future in women’s basketball looks very bright. A lot of resilience, recruiting, and rebuilding has all been a part of the plan. Committed to the ‘Cuse.
