Monday Musings: What is Going on With Jalil Bethea?

The latest on the Syracuse basketball priority target.

Mike McAllister | Sep 11, 2023

Monday Musings: What is Going on With Jalil Bethea? /

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Syracuse basketball priority target Jalil Bethea was supposed to take an official visit this coming weekend. This following officials to Villanova, Kansas and Miami. However, rumors started swirling Sunday afternoon that Bethea cancelled his official to SU and that this was a Kansas versus Miami race.

So what is the situation? Here is what we know.

Bethea rescheduled his official visit to Syracuse for the weekend of the 29th due to a conflict with a Nike event happening this weekend. That was not public knowledge but apparently had already been worked out between the two sides behind the scenes.

However, the rumors that the official to SU was cancelled along with buzz that Miami put itself in the driver's seat during its visit put the Orange's position in a precarious spot. Bethea later told me that the rumors were false information and he is coming to Syracuse on the 29th.

"I'll be there," Bethea said.

So what does this all mean? Syracuse was obviously one of the frontrunners for quite a while throughout the recruitment. The Kansas visit, however, made the Jayhawks a significant threat. Miami has always been a big threat and they seemed to have showcased themselves well during this past weekend's visit. So Syracuse certainly has its work cut out for it at a minimum.

The key will be what happens over the next week or so. Do the rumors of no Syracuse visit get stronger? Does Bethea set a surprise commitment date indicating he is deciding between Kansas and Miami? Or is there silence from his end and he really does end up taking the Syracuse visit?

Syracuse has no chance without this visit even though he visited last October. A visit would indicate he still is interested. Not taking it means he has moved on to other options.

The drama in recruiting never fails.

Published Sep 11, 2023

MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting. EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans. After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years. Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports. Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College.