Kwame Evans Jr., a former five-star prospect in the 2023 class from Baltimore, who at one point was being heavily recruited by Syracuse basketball, is planning to enter the transfer portal.
Multiple media reports on Monday and into Tuesday noted that the 6-foot-10, 220-pound Evans, a junior power forward at Big Ten Conference school Oregon, is expected to hit the portal, which will be open from April 7 to April 21.
NEWS: Oregon forward Kwame Evans Jr. plans to enter the @TransferPortal, his agent James Dunleavy of @excelsm told @On3.
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) March 23, 2026
⁰The 6-10 junior and former 5⭐️ recruit averaged 13.3 points and 7.4 rebounds this season. Expected to be one of the more sought-after players in the portal.… pic.twitter.com/HbgGG96w9m
On Tuesday, in its national transfer rankings, 247Sports had Evans at No. 6 overall and No. 2 at power forward. On3's national transfer ratings, at the time of this writing, placed him at No. 2 nationally and No. 1 at power forward.
Oregon struggled in the 2025-26 campaign, sporting an overall record of 12-20. Evans, as a junior, appeared in 30 games, averaging 30.9 minutes, 13.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals per contest while making 45.4 percent from the field, 30.4 percent from beyond the arc and 79.9 percent from the free-throw line.
Former Syracuse basketball recruit Kwame Evans Jr. plans to transfer from Oregon.
The 'Cuse coaching staff offered a scholarship to Evans in October of 2021. At that time, Gerry McNamara was an assistant coach at Syracuse basketball. On Tuesday, McNamara, the head coach of Siena for the past two seasons, was named as the next head coach of Syracuse basketball, replacing Adrian Autry.
Evans, in high school, first played for the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. He then transferred to the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla. During his tenure at Montverde, the Eagles won a high school national championship in 2022.
The following year, in 2023, Evans was a McDonald's All-American. Within the 2023 class, several recruiting Web sites had him as five stars, and Evans was a consensus top-20 national prospect in that cycle.
In January of 2022, Evans did say in an interview that Syracuse basketball was among the suitors heavily involved in his recruitment. Take that for what it's worth as it relates to the Orange possibly pursuing Evans this offseason.
The 'Cuse 2025-26 roster included 13 main scholarship players. At least three have exhausted their college eligibility. Syracuse basketball's current roster does include power forwards such as sophomore Donnie Freeman and freshman Sadiq White Jr.