Less than a week after the resignation of legendary Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, the Orange on Tuesday landed a massive commitment out of the portal as former five-star recruit JJ Starling, who spent the last season at Notre Dame, committed to the school and new coach Adrian Autry.
Starling entered the portal on Monday and announced by early Tuesday he was headed to Syracuse. The No. 1 player from New York in the 2022 class and a consensus top-25 talent at 247Sports, Starling initially considered Syracuse out of high school along with Duke, Maryland and others before landing with the Fighting Irish.
"The coaching staff at Cuse are people I know I can put my trust in to handle and manage my career the right way," Starling told On3Sports about his decision. "Also, being able to play on one of the biggest stages in college basketball is definitely noteworthy, and being able to have my parents and other relatives alongside me and come out to games and support me sounds amazing, especially when they rarely were able to do so through my career."
Starling played in 28 games for the Irish this season and made starts in 24 of them, averaging 11.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 29.9% from 3-point range. He entered the season as a possible one-and-done candidate, flashing at times as a future pro.
Notre Dame struggled even with Starling instant production in 2022-23, though, finishing 11-21 -- its lowest win percentage since 1995-1996 -- which led to long-time coach Mike Brey stepping down after 23 seasons leading the program. Starling joins a Syracuse program that fizzled in the final years under Boeheim but could use him as a building block to launch Autry and the Orange into a new era.
