Despite a blowout loss in the Peach Jam championship on Sunday afternoon, Syracuse target Quade Green used the tournament Nike Elite Youth Basketball League season to showcase why he’s had college basketball analysts reshuffling their rankings for the spring and summer.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard’s performance earned him recent offers from Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State. SU offered him last summer.

The PSA Cardinals (New York) point guard ran an offense that also featured two fellow Orange targets, forward Mohamed Bamba and wing Brandon Randolph. Green had 40 more assists in total league play than the second-highest player. His 21 points and six assists helped the Cardinals overcome an 18-point second-half deficit in the tournament’s semifinal on Saturday night.

“He’s tough. Really, really tough,” Carl Arrigale, his coach at Neumann-Goretti (Pennsylvania) High School, said. “To be that size and survive, you have to shoot. And he can. He’s not afraid of anything.”

Scout.com considered the four-star guard the 51st best prospect in March, but after winning the state class AAA championship and averaging 10.5 assists per game during the EYBL season, he’s up to five stars and No. 20. He’s jumped at least 15 spots on ESPN.com and 247Sports.com as well.

There is a 71 percent chance Green chooses Duke, 247Sports’ Crystal Ball predicts.

Green likes Syracuse and has a good relationship with SU assistant coach Gerry McNamara, Arrigale said.

If he commits, he will be Syracuse’s second scholarship guard under 6 feet tall since at least the 1992-93 season. Five-foot-10 James Thues played the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons at Syracuse before transferring to Detroit. Thues didn’t shoot much, but he played the role of pickpocket, ranking sixth nationally with 101 steals during the 01-02 season.

Putting Green at the top of SU’s 2-3 zone defense would be a departure from the norm for SU head coach Jim Boeheim, who traditionally recruits tall, rangy guards with long wingspans. Syracuse’s last four point guards have been 6-foot-6 Michael Carter-Williams, 6-foot-3 Tyler Ennis and Kaleb Joseph and 6-foot-7 Michael Gbinije.

However, using smaller guards is not unprecedented. 2007 and 2008 point man Jonny Flynn stood 6 foot.

“Quade’s not afraid of whoever’s in front of him, or the moment,” Arrigale said. “He doesn’t think anybody’s better than him, 5-5 or 6-5.”

Arrigale has played a fast, small-ball lineup with man defense since Green’s been at Neumann-Goretti, but he doesn’t think Green would have trouble transitioning to zone or struggle with size because he’s consistently matched up with players 4 and 5 inches taller than him in high school.

Green has started for the Philadelphia basketball powerhouse since his sophomore year. He hit two buzzer-beating game-winners that season, Arrigale said, one in front of a jeering student section after losing the lead against future University of Nevada Las Vegas standout Derrick Jones. The other came against a player that a ranking site listed ahead of Green for best point guard in the city.

“He plays with a little chip on his shoulder, in a good way,” Arrigale said. “He’s thinking about who’s ahead of him on whatever ranking. … His size doesn’t worry me. He’s not much different than Gerry (McNamara). Those two see eye to eye.

“And when’s the last time (Syracuse) cut the nets down?”

Published on July 10, 2016 at 5:56 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR