Syracuse Basketball: Former 4-star big-man recruit enters transfer portal

Isaiah Miranda, a freshman at N.C. State who held a Syracuse basketball scholarship offer while in high school, has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, according to multiple media reports, including a tweet from 247Sports national analyst Travis Branham.

The 7-foot-1 power forward/center received an offer from the Orange in November of 2021. He was originally a member of the 2023 cycle but ended up reclassifying and enrolling at fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member N.C. State in December of last year, per 247Sports.

Media reports have said that Miranda is testing the 2023 NBA Draft waters. During the 2022-23 season, he did not see any court time for the Wolfpack.

This past term, N.C. State went 23-11 overall and reached this spring’s NCAA Tournament, where the No. 11 seed Wolfpack lost in the round of 64 to the No. 6 seed Creighton.

Former Syracuse basketball recruit Isaiah Miranda has hit the transfer portal.

Miranda, a native of Pawtucket, R.I., competed for the Springfield Commonwealth Academy in Springfield, Mass., before spending his senior year at the Southern California Academy in Northridge, Calif.

Throughout his recruiting process, he picked up more than 20 offers from a range of high-major programs. In September of 2022, Miranda disclosed a top eight of Southern California, UCLA, Oregon, Louisville, Georgetown, Texas, UConn and Rhode Island.

However, he would end up at N.C. State as a consensus four-star, top-50 national prospect in the 2022 recruiting cycle. Most recruiting services rated him as a top-10 power forward/center in the 2022 class, and Rivals.com had Miranda as high as No. 30 across the country in this cycle.

Syracuse basketball is expected to have three centers on its 2023-24 roster, although all of them are inexperienced. The Orange has been mining the portal to corral another center, after senior Jesse Edwards transferred to West Virginia.

Last weekend, the ‘Cuse hosted big-man transfer Naheem McLeod on an official visit, and he is planning to officially visit Mississippi State this Wednesday. McLeod is a 7-foot-4 sophomore center from Florida State.

The Orange coaching staff has reportedly reached out to 2023 four-star center Papa Kante, who has requested a release from his national letter of intent to Michigan and is reopening his recruitment.

The 6-foot-10 Kante, who held a Syracuse basketball scholarship offer, is a senior at the South Kent School in South Kent, Conn.