Welcome to day two of transfer portal season, Syracuse basketball family.
The portal opened on Tuesday and will run until April 21. Of the Orange's 13 main scholarship players in the 2025-26 season, three have exhausted their eligibility, seven plan to enter the portal (or have already entered it), and three have decisions to make.
Those who have yet to detail their future plans are freshman forward Sadiq White Jr., freshman guard/wing Kiyan Anthony and redshirt senior small forward Nate Kingz, who would need to secure a waiver from the NCAA to play another season of Division I basketball.
At the time of this writing, new head coach Gerry McNamara and his staff have secured two commitments for the 2026-27 season. They are Siena sophomore guard Gavin Doty, a four-star transfer prospect, and European wing Mark Morano Mahmutovic, a four-star player in the 2026 class.
With Syracuse basketball allowed up to 15 scholarship players, McNamara and his assistants have plenty of scholarships available for the upcoming campaign. From my perspective, two positions of need are the most critical for Orange coaches as they construct their 2026-27 roster via the transfer portal (and other recruting avenues).
Gerry McNamara must pluck a floor general and a big man out of the portal.
Point guard and center are the two most vital positions for Syracuse basketball at this juncture. The Orange's starting point guard in 2025-26, junior Naithan George, is entering the portal. SU's starting center, senior William Kyle III, has exhausted his collegiate eligibility.
Now, it's important to note that when it comes to financial considerations, it's likely that a high-quality point guard and center will each command the most dollars for the Orange, a program that eyes at least $9 million to $10 million for its total roster budget in 2026-27, a combination of direct-revenue sharing paid out by SU and third-party name, image and likeness ("NIL") deals.
Without question, the 'Cuse will need new players at all position groups, including in the back-court and in the front-court. Guards. Wings. Big men. And that's even if White, Anthony and/or Kingz return.
As I noted on Tuesday night, McNamara & Co. could possibly pursue some former Orange recruiting targets from their high school days, at point guard, center and other positions. But it's also highly likely that Syracuse basketball will secure some pledges from guys that we haven't heard about publicly.
Stay tuned.