Recruiting Update

Breaking News from intrepid reporter Jason Schwartz...

...is something you will never hear on this blog.

I am by no means a recruiting expert, but I do spend a fair (probably unhealthy) amount of time reading other Syracuse blogs, websites, and "tweeters" so I feel fairly plugged into the world of Syracuse recruiting news.  It only makes sense that I would consolidate all this information here and use my wasted time to your benefit.  After all, you're already wasting enough of your time reading this blog.

CHINOSO OBOKOH

For those who haven't already heard, earlier this week Syracuse received a verbal commitment from Chinoso Obokoh.  Chinoso is a 6'9" power forward/center type from Bishop Kearney (Rochester, NY).  Although he is only a three-star recruit and not listed on most Top 100 rankings lists for the Class of 2013, I think he is a very important recruit for a few reasons.

1)  Chinoso fills in two coveted spots on our Annual Syracuse Recruiting Bingo Card.  Chinoso has a fun African sounding name (following in the lineage of Baye Moussa Keita and Arinze Onuaku) and is a big man who's defense is light years ahead of his offense and is likely to be buried on the bench in his freshman season (following in the storied footsteps of Rakeem Christmas and Fab Melo).

Combined with Tyler Ennis (cross "Token Canadian" off your boards), we are already more than halfway to BINGO with the Class of 2013.  All we need is a forward who is in the 6'7" - 6'9" range and woefully malnourished and a token white guard.  We'll get to the string-bean small forward in a minute, but the prospects for a token white guard in this class do not seem favorable.  Looks like we'll need the free space to win this year.

2)  On a more serious note, although Obokoh is not extremely highly regarded, he seems like he will be a solid four-year contributor who could develop into a key rotation piece by the time he is an upperclassman.  Boeheim has had success with these types of players before.  Hakim Warrick, Rick Jackson, and Arinze Onuaku come to mind.

3)  A preliminary google search shows Bishop Kearney playing at Fairport on January 3.  That means I get to watch a future Syracuse player destroy my alma mater.  Looking forward to it.

4)  Syracuse is also recruiting a player in the Class of 2014 named Goodluck Okobonoh.  I am giddy about the possibilities of gibberish I can yell while watching a frontcourt of Obokoh and Okobonoh reject numerous layup and dunk attempts by our opponents.  The Dikembe Mutombo finger-way will be used excessively.    

B.J. JOHNSON

Syracuse also received another verbal commitment this week from Class of 2013 forward B.J. Johnson.  Johnson is a three-star forward from Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania.  Coming in at in intimidating 6'7", 165 lbs., Johnson is our rail-thin wing forward that I teased above.

I don't know nearly as much about Johnson as I do about Obokoh, but I did do a quick scour of the internet and it appears that he is very young for his class (only 16 entering his senior year).  Maybe he is a late bloomer and will turn out to be a steal.  It certainly doesn't hurt to get an early commitment before he has the chance to blow up during his senior season and attract more competition.

Interesting Trivia:  Johnson's high school is same as none other than career NBA journeyman Kobe Bryant (I kid Lakers fans, I kid).

That's it for now on the recruiting front, but Syracuse may not be done just quite yet.  They are still in the hunt for a few coveted players in the Class of 2013.  They include big men Noah Vonleh (#7), Jermaine Lawrence (#12), Tyler Roberson (#43), and combo guard Rysheed Jordan (#41).

Either way, it looks like the cupboard will remain well stocked as we make the move to the ACC next year.