Syracuse Basketball: 4-star, 5-star recruits have transferred to powerhouse programs

This off-season, the transfer portal has proven a busy time for Syracuse basketball at the college level.

That also extends to high school hoops, as numerous Orange recruits in the 2025 and 2026 classes have moved to new programs as of late.

We've already noted a few of these moves in other recent columns, and I'm going to provide an update here on a variety of prospects who hold 'Cuse scholarship offers and will suit up for new high school squads in the upcoming 2024-25 season.

Tracking Syracuse basketball targets who have transferred to a new high school this off-season.

One of the biggest headliners has been 2025 five-star big man and top-10 national prospect Chris Cenac Jr. He picked up an offer from the Orange in early June, and Cenac could be emerging as a key target for Syracuse basketball in the rising high school senior class.

In mid-June, he announced that he would transfer from the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans to the powerhouse Link Academy in Branson, Mo., which is part of the country's top high school hoops conference, the 14-member Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic (“EYBL Scholastic").

Another recent addition to the Link roster for 2024-25 is 2025 four-star combo guard Jerry Easter II, who is transferring there from the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind. Easter holds a 'Cuse offer and has said that he's interested in visiting Syracuse basketball.

Dante Allen, a 2025 four-star shooting guard offered by the Orange in late April, will spend his senior year at the juggernaut Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., after starring as a junior at the Riviera Preparatory School in Miami.

Montverde, in 2023-24, went undefeated, won the high school national title and was the top program in the EYBL Scholastic.

Heading to the talent-rich Washington, D.C., area, 2026 four-star point guard Anthony Brown said not too long ago that he would transfer for his junior year from St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va., to Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C.

The 'Cuse staff offered Brown in late August of 2023, around the time that he took an unofficial visit to the Hill to compete in the team's annual Elite Camp. Since the 2026 contact period opened on June 15, Brown has heard from many suitors, including Syracuse basketball; his dad has told me that Brown is interested in taking an official visit to the Orange in the future.

Late last month, it was revealed that 2025 four-star guard DeMarco Johnson would head from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., to the Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., for his senior season.

Oak Hill, also a member of the EYBL Scholastic, is where former Syracuse basketball point guard Judah Mintz played immediately before heading to the 'Cuse. Johnson secured an Orange offer in late July of 2023.

On July 8, via his X page, 2026 five-star small forward and top-20 national prospect Maximo Adams said he was transferring from Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, Calif., to the Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, Calif., which is a top-flight program in the Los Angeles area.

Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to Adams in February of 2023, although it's unclear to me how actively the Orange staff is recruiting him these days.