Recruiting Impact: Quadir Copeland to Syracuse

How Copeland's commitment impacts Syracuse's recruiting efforts going forward.

Syracuse picked up a significant commitment on Saturday in 6-6 point guard Quadir Copeland. Copeland is important for the Orange for a variety of reasons, but beyond his skill on the court is his criticality to the 2022 recruiting class. 

Syracuse targeted point guard this cycle as one of its most important positions. Three prospects emerged as the primary targets in Quadir Copeland, JJ Starling and Chance Westry. All three were high major prospects, each bringing his own set of abilities. Any of the three that wanted to commit would have been taken by Syracuse. 

Each player was prioritized, each recruited extremely hard and each officially visited last month. Landing Copeland means Syracuse picked up another priority target in the 2022 class to go along with Kamari Lands and Justin Taylor. Picking up Copeland when other high majors were also in hot pursuit, most notably Maryland and Oregon, is also important. It continues the trend of Syracuse's 2022 class with landing priority targets over other strong programs. 

With the addition of Copeland, what happens with Westry and Starling? Things with Westry seemed to be going in another direction anyway. Chances he picked Syracuse were dwindling and Syracuse seemed more focused on the other two. With Starling, things get interesting. 

One may think the addition of Copeland may make Syracuse less attractive as there is another point guard committed. However, Syracuse can pitch that both Copeland and Starling have versatile skill sets that allow them to play together. Especially since both are completely different players and their skill sets compliment each other. That should allow them to play together. Starling is viewed by Syracuse as an elite talent who will play significant minutes as a true freshman. 

Therefore, do not expect Syracuse to back off of Starling. Starling has told us a commitment from another guard would not impact his interest. He officially visited Stanford over the weekend and is expected to visit Duke this month as well. 

Syracuse will move its focus to the last few slots in the class as the Orange is putting together one of its best in recent memory. Donovan Clingan is off to UConn, and Syracuse has extended an offer to Peter Carey out of Northfield Mount Herman in Massachusetts. Carey is expected to visit the Orange this month. 

In addition to Carey and Starling, Syracuse is also in the mix for Chance Westry, Chris Bunch and Dominick Barlow. Westry recently released his top 10, and while Syracuse made the cut, the Orange is not expected to be the choice as of now. Things can change, however. Bunch officially visited Syracuse in June and is expected to trim his list before his senior season. Barlow is a recent offeree after Kyle Filipowski picked Duke. Expect him to visit Syracuse soon.