Syracuse Basketball: Transfer Alan Griffin trims to six, including Orange

Syracuse basketball remains in contention for Illinois transfer Alan Griffin, a sophomore guard, according to several media reports.

Alan Griffin, a sophomore guard who is transferring from Big Ten Conference member Illinois, has reportedly cut his list to a half-dozen squads, including Syracuse basketball.

That’s according to tweets from a couple of collegiate-hoops insiders, such as CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

Rothstein, citing sources, says that the 6-foot-5 Griffin still has under consideration Miami, Dayton, Iowa State, Arizona, and Texas, in addition to the ‘Cuse.

Undoubtedly, Griffin is looking at some high-quality programs, however, I have to say that his list of six finalists is definitely a bit random.

You’ve got Syracuse and fellow Atlantic Coast Conference participant Miami. Dayton, part of the Atlantic 10 Conference, is coming off a stellar 2019-20 campaign, in which it likely would have received a No. 1 seed in March Madness.

Arizona, out of the Pac-12 Conference, regularly competes for the best recruits around the country. Texas and Iowa State, both from the Big 12 Conference, are solid.

Last Friday, analyst Jeff Goodman tweeted that Griffin, who hails from New York state, had eight crews under consideration. In decreasing his list, it seems that Griffin has eliminated Marquette and Duke.

Any instance where the Orange is still in contention, and the Blue Devils aren’t, is a positive for the ‘Cuse, as Duke has arrived late in the recruiting game in the past and secured commitments from prospects who had previously contemplated attending Syracuse.

While Griffin is apparently interested in the Orange, how interested the ‘Cuse coaches are in him remains unclear. Syracuse is slated to have just three guards on its roster this fall, so landing a fourth guard isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

Conversely, it’s safe to assume that Griffin, who averaged 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per contest in 2019-20, wants to find another group to boost his playing time. And the Orange’s starting guards, Joe Girard III and Buddy Boeheim, are only in their freshman and sophomore years, respectively.

Given that context, who knows exactly how this will all shake out with Griffin, who went to Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, N.Y., about four hours from the Hill.

An excellent 3-point shooter, Griffin’s length and overall skill-set could help to somewhat fill the void that is presumably going to get left on the ‘Cuse line-up by star Elijah Hughes’ anticipated departure. The redshirt junior forward, as we all know, is testing the NBA Draft waters.