Five candidates for Syracuse’s last scholarship

As it stands, Syracuse has just one more open spot for its 2016 basketball recruiting class. There should be eight returning scholarship players, and wing forward Matthew Moyer is already committed in the class. Moyer has had his scholarship guaranteed, bringing the total number of scholarships to nine. The Orange will only have room for 10 scholarship players in 2016-17 because of the NCAA’s scholarship-reduction sanction.

The last piece of the class is a vital one. With three fewer scholarship players than any other team in the country, the Orange can’t afford to whiff on any recruits. A miss or two on the recruiting trail could doom Syracuse to mediocrity for the next several years.

The good news is that many highly rated 2016 recruits are interested in the Orange. Here’s a look at the five top candidates to fill the last spot, ranked by priority for coach Jim Boeheim and his staff.