Syracuse Basketball: Former recruit, who averaged 20 PPG, enters portal

Aaron Estrada, a prolific-scoring guard who reportedly had interest in Syracuse basketball a couple of years ago, is entering the NCAA’s transfer portal, according to his Twitter page and media reports.

In late March of 2020, scout Andrew Slater said that the 6-foot-3 Estrada, who at the time was transferring from Saint Peter’s after his freshman stanza, had a top three of the Orange, Creighton and Oregon.

Estrada would play one season at Saint Peter’s, one term at Oregon, and then the last two years for Hofstra out of the Colonial Athletic Association (“CAA”), during which time he captured that league’s player of the year honor in both of his campaigns with the Pride.

In 2022-23, Estrada averaged 20.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game for Hofstra, according to ESPN statistics. This past season, he connected on 47.8 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.9 percent from the charity stripe.

With Estrada leading the way, the Pride had a solid 2022-23, going 25-10 overall. Hofstra lost in the NIT’s second round to Cincinnati, 79-65, in mid-March. In that setback, Estrada was terrific, tallying 18 points, six rebounds, eight assists, and three steals.

Aaron Estrada, who reportedly had interest in Syracuse basketball, is in the transfer portal.

In 2022-23, Estrada was a redshirt senior, so he will have one year of collegiate eligibility left for his new team in the 2023-24 stanza.

Per a tweet from CBS Sports’ college basketball insider Jon Rothstein on Wednesday, Estrada is garnering interest from a bunch of teams, including Alabama, Arkansas, Seton Hall, Kansas State, Florida State, N.C. State, Tennessee, Georgetown, St. John’s, Providence, Virginia Tech, Auburn and LSU, among others.

As a member of the 2019 class out of the St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, N.J., Estrada was a three-star prospect via Rivals.com who held scholarship offers from Saint Peter’s, East Carolina, Robert Morris and Wagner College.

In his freshman season at Saint Peter’s in 2019-20, Estrada averaged 19.4 minutes, 8.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest, and he was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (“MAAC”) rookie of the year.

In that 2019-20 stanza for the Peacocks, Estrada hit on 40.5 percent from the field, 34.0 percent from 3-point land and 87.9 percent from the free-throw line. For Oregon in 2020-21, he didn’t play much. He then moved to Hofstra, where he was a standout for the Pride.