Syracuse Basketball: Former 4-star recruit Chance Westry to enter portal

Chance Westry, a former long-time Syracuse basketball recruiting target, is planning to enter the NCAA’s transfer portal, according to media reports and recruiting services.

The 6-foot-6 guard, who hails from Harrisburg, Pa., was a freshman at Southeastern Conference member Auburn during the 2022-23 season. Westry, a top-40 national prospect in the 2022 class, is taking a redshirt for the 2022-23 stanza as he dealt with injury, per reports.

In his freshman term for the Tigers, Westry appeared in 11 games, according to ESPN statistics. He averaged 9.3 minutes, 2.5 points and 1.0 assists per encounter, while connecting on 31.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from the charity stripe.

Auburn, in 2022-23, went 21-13 overall. The Tigers made the 2023 NCAA Tournament. As a No. 9 seed, Auburn defeated No. 8 seed Iowa in the round of 64 before falling to No. 1 seed Houston, 81-64, in the round of 32 on Saturday, March 18.

Syracuse basketball got involved in the recruitment of Chance Westry early on.

The Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to Chance Westry in the summer of 2019. He played for several high-school squads, ending up before college at the powerhouse AZ Compass Prep School in Chandler, Ariz.

For a period of time during his recruiting process, the chatter was that Syracuse basketball looked to be in a strong position with Westry. He did officially visit the Hill.

The ‘Cuse made Westry’s initial top 10, which consisted of Syracuse basketball, Mike Hopkins-led Washington, Maryland, Auburn, LSU, Connecticut, Southern California, Arizona State, Nebraska and DePaul.

Toward the latter stages of his recruitment, the “buzz” between the Orange and Chance Westry appeared to fade. On Oct. 31, 2021, Westry revealed his commitment to Auburn.

In the 2022 recruiting cycle, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite ranked Westry as No. 39 across the country, No. 12 at small forward and No. 3 in Arizona.

According to his bio on the Auburn athletics department Web site, as a senior at AZ Compass Prep in the 2021-22 season, Chance Westry averaged 13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per contest. The Dragons, by the way, earned a bid to the 2022 GEICO Nationals.

Westry, regarding his decision to enter the transfer portal after his freshman campaign at Auburn, provided a statement to On3 national analyst Joe Tipton.

"Chance Westry said in part, “Through the ups and downs, this has been one of the most fun and impactful years of my life. I will never forget my time on The Plains, and I will always be a Tiger. With that being said, I will be entering the transfer portal with four years of eligibility. I look forward to exploring new opportunities for the next chapter of my basketball career.”"