Monday Musings: Jesse Edwards' Comments, Donnie Freeman, Jalil Bethea

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JESSE EDWARDS COMMENTS

Jesse Edwards committed to West Virginia on Sunday. That was not surprising, but his comments about the decision were. Specifically what he told ESPN.

"I didn't really want to get into this, but it doesn't seem that Syracuse as an organization is that into that (NIL)," Edwards said. "I'm not really sure what their plan is or what the school's idea is behind it. For me it was something that they couldn't offer in that way."

This would suggest that Syracuse made no offer to Edwards and that it could not make an offer because it was ill equipped to handle international NIL situations. Those comments made the rounds on Sunday with many commenting how poorly this looks for SU and its ability to use NIL to attract high end talent.

How accurate is that comment, however? There has been reporting that would seem to contradict those statements. Brian Drake, who is a fantasy sports podcaster and writer as well as a Pro Football Focus radio show host, reported that Edwards received $800,000 in an NIL deal to go to West Virginia. He also reported that Syracuse offered half that.

I was told Wednesday about this deal. Source said the deal was worked out in Toronto for 800k. Cuse offer was half that.

Doing the deal in another country is the loophole? Possibly.
— Brian Drake (@DrakeFantasy) April 16, 2023

Figures in the $500,000 to $600,00 range have also been rumored regarding Syracuse's offer to Edwards. Regardless, it appears the comments that Syracuse does not have an NIL plan or the ability to offer anything with NIL are not accurate. Still, in the wake of those comments, Syracuse will have to address this on the recruiting trail regardless of the accuracy.

Recruits have been the comments. Other schools have seen the comments. Recruits will likely ask about Syracuse's NIL situation. Other schools will use those comments to negatively recruit against Syracuse. The staff will have to prepare for that inevitability.

That could, however, be a short lived thing if Syracuse targets receive NIL related money once they commit to the Orange. When other recruits hear that is happening, Edwards comments will not hold much water in terms of hurting the Orange on the trail.

DONNIE FREEMAN

The Edwards situation will not have an impact on Freeman's recruitment. NIL, from what I've been told, is not a huge factor for Freeman. Regardless of that, Freeman was not expecting to play with Edwards anyway as he would have been gone by the time Freeman arrived even if Edwards' returned. Syracuse is still in a good spot here with Alabama as the likely top competition.

JALIL BETHEA

Georgetown recently offered Bethea, but Syracuse remains one of the schools recruiting him the hardest. He has a great relationship with Orange assistant Gerry McNamara, and head coach Adrian Autry has become more involved since taking the job. Syracuse will continue to put the full court press on Bethea along with Freeman, hoping to pair those two with Elijah Moore along with a potential big in the 2024 recruiting class.