Rakeem Christmas in action earlier this summer.
File photo by Nicholas Koza
Forward
Rakeem Christmas of
Academy of the New Church (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) confirmed his commitment to Syracuse on Friday night while participating in the Nike Global Challenge in Hillsboro, Ore.
Christmas is ranked the No. 16 prospect in the 2011 class by MaxPreps.com.
The 6-foot-9, 225-pound rising senior, averaged 13.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game as a junior. He spent his summer with Philadelphia-based Team Final, where he paired with Michael Gilchrist – the No. 1 prospect in the 2011 class.
Christmas joins a Syracuse recruiting class that already includes guards Michael Carter-Williams of St. Andrew's (Barrington, R.I.) and Trevor Cooney of Sanford (Hockessin, Del.). The future teammates were all in Hillsboro for the Nike Global Challenge with Christmas and Cooney on the USA East roster and Carter-Williams playing for USA Midwest.
Christmas scored six points, blocked six shots and grabbed five boards in USA East's 105-100 double-overtime loss to Canada on Friday.
The Academy of the New Church standout also considered Baylor, Florida, Georgetown, Indiana, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and Villanova before deciding on the Orange.
