Akir Souare, a redshirt sophomore power forward/center at Syracuse basketball this past season, will transfer to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Pittsburgh, he said on his Instagram page.
I'll be rooting for Akir in the upcoming campaign, although not when he faces the Orange! The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Souare will join another former Orange player from the 2025-26 stanza at Pitt. Junior point guard Naithan George, a few weeks ago, said that he would transfer to the Panthers for the 2026-27 season.
This past term, the 'Cuse went 15-17 overall, the program's second straight losing season. Head coach Adrian Autry and his staff were let go in March, with another former Syracuse basketball standout guard, Gerry McNamara, being hired as SU's next head coach.
Souare is an athletic big man who had some nice moments in 2025-26 on the defensive end and as a rim protector. But he didn't see the court all that much, appearing in 29 games while averaging 8.3 minutes, 0.9 points and 1.9 rebounds per contest. He connected on 66.7 percent of his limited field-goal attempts.
Where have former Syracuse basketball players landed?
In 2025-26, the Orange had 13 main scholarship players. Guard J.J. Starling, center William Kyle lll and guard Bryce Zephir have exhausted their eligibility. Freshmen Kiyan Anthony, a guard, and Sadiq White Jr., a forward, are returning.
The other eight players entered the transfer portal, which was open from April 7 to April 21. Here is where they have ended up:
•Naithan George, a junior point guard, is transferring to Pittsburgh
•Donnie Freeman, a sophomore power forward, is transferring to St. John's
•Tyler Betsey, a sophomore forward, is transferring to BYU
•Ibrahim Souare, a redshirt sophomore power forward/center, is transferring to Pittsburgh
•Luke Fennell, a freshman combo guard, is transferring to Saint Mary's
•Aaron Womack, a freshman guard/wing, is transferring to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
•Tiefing Diawara, a freshman center, is transferring to South Florida
•Nate Kingz, a redshirt senior small forward, is also in the portal, but he would likely need a waiver from the NCAA to play another season of Division I hoops, even as the NCAA is expected to pass the 5-for-5 eligibility rule
The 'Cuse, in 2026-27, will face George, Souare and Pitt in ACC play. Syracuse basketball's non-conference schedule this coming season is expected to include a game at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and rumors are swirling that SU's opponent may be St. John's, whose head coach, Rick Pitino, is a former Syracuse basketball assistant from the 1970s.
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