Monday Musings: Basketball Recruiting Notes, Football Thoughts
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1. JJ Starling
Syracuse hosted JJ Starling over the weekend for his second Orange official visit. You can check out our interview with him HERE. So where do things stand after trips to Notre Dame and Syracuse with Northwestern and Duke still to go? Syracuse is right in the thick of this. It will be there until the end. Northwestern is a school he likes, but I cannot see him picking the Wildcats. Notre Dame has made a big push and really impressed during his official visit. The Irish are a real player here. Duke is also involved and gets the last visit. He is looking to decide in early October. This all depends on what Starling wants. At Notre Dame and Northwestern, he could get lost on the national landscape. Neither of those programs are on national television as regularly as Syracuse and Duke. Duke could recruit over him in this same cycle or the next one. He may not even play right away given the guards they have on their roster. At Syracuse, he would play right away and he would have greater NIL opportunities due to being a local prospect. This will be intriguing to watch over the next few weeks.
2. Peter Carey
Nothing significantly new on Carey other than Rutgers was in to see him at his school last week. No other official visits scheduled yet, and he has a trip to Syracuse set for the 24th. His parents will be with him on the trip. With no new offers and no other officials scheduled, Syracuse is in the driver's seat here. Rutgers is not a serious threat unless they get a visit.
3. Fan Impact on Recruiting Visits
One of the big takeaways from JJ Starling's visit was his impression of the Dome atmosphere and interactions with fans while attending the football game. That can make a big difference on recruiting and only helped Syracuse's efforts. Fans can certainly help the Orange's cause with things like that, and did so in JJ's case.
4. Rhythm
Looking back at Syracuse's loss to Rutgers, I think a major part of the offensive performance was rhythm. When Garrett Shrader was inserted into the game, Syracuse had just had solid back to back drives under Tommy DeVito. The first ended with the Taj Harris "fumble" and the second on Luke Benson's "holding call." Absent either of those incorrect calls, Syracuse likely scores on each. Would DeVito have been taken out off of back to back scoring drives? He was playing well early. When he was taken out, the rhythm of the offense went with him and never seemed to recover. That is why, in most instances, a two quarterback system rarely works over the long haul. If I'm Syracuse, I pick my starter against Albany and give him the entire first half. If it is a blowout at halftime, put in the backup and give him the second half.
5. On To Albany
With the loss to Rutgers in the rearview mirror, Syracuse must turn its focus to Albany. Yes it is an FCS opponent. Yes Syracuse should win rather easily and convincingly. What can the Orange learn from such a game? More reps for the offense to try to figure some things out, a confidence booster, gain some momentum going into the Liberty game. That is the big test. To see if some of the struggles against Rutgers have been corrected. To see offensive improvement. We should see that over the next two games if there is hope of righting the ship.