Gerry McNamara has big void to fill at Syracuse as former 5-star commit enters portal

Syracuse basketball sophomore power forward Donnie Freeman, whose two seasons on the Hill were hindered by injuries, will enter the transfer portal, according to multiple media reports on Tuesday afternoon.

This doesn't come as a huge surprise, but it also wasn't a given that the DMV native would depart the Orange program. However, the 6-foot-9, 205-pound Freeman was extremely close with former head coach Adrian Autry and former assistant Brenden Straughn, both of whom were let go after SU finished its 2025-26 season at 15-17 overall.

Freeman was a consensus five-star, top-15 national prospect in the 2024 class. He was ranked as high as No. 6 nationally in this cycle, making him the highest-rated commit for Syracuse basketball dating back to Carmelo Anthony in the 2002-03 season, when the Orange captured its first and only national title.

I'm wishing Donnie nothing but great success moving forward. My assumption is that he will fare quite well in the transfer portal, drawing a lot of suitors and likely making a handsome sum of money in revenue-sharing/NIL wherever he ends up.

Syracuse basketball has seen at least six players from last season hit the portal.

Freeman, as a sophomore, missed nine games due to injury. He averaged 31.3 minutes, 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per contest while making 47.4 percent from the field, 30.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.7 percent from the free-throw line.

In his freshman campaign, Freeman averaged 13.4 points, 7.9 boards and 1.4 assists per game, but he only appeared in 14 encounters due to injury. While Freeman's two seasons at the 'Cuse weren't awful - regardless of what the legendary Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim says - some fans think that Freeman underperformed, and that's an understandable sentiment.

The transfer portal opened on Tuesday and runs for 15 days, through April 21. New head coach Gerry McNamara and his staff are busy constructing their 2026-27 roster. Three players from 2025-26 exhausted their collegiate eligibility.

Besides Freeman, those 'Cuse players who are entering the portal include freshman guard Luke Fennell, junior point guard Naithan George, sophomore forward Tyler Betsey, freshman center Tiefing Diawara and freshman wing Aaron Womack III, who took a redshirt in 2025-26.

Four Orange players have to reveal their future plans. They are redshirt senior small forward Nate Kingz, freshman forward Sadiq White Jr., freshman guard/wing Kiyan Anthony and redshirt sophomore big man Akir Souare.

McNamara, so far, has landed commitments from European wing Mark Morano Mahmutovic, a four-star player in the 2026 class, and Siena sophomore guard Gavin Doty, who is rated as a four-star transfer prospect.