Syracuse Basketball: 4-star guard transfer Dakota Leffew, to visit 'Cuse, names top 6

Mount St. Mary's senior guard Dakota Leffew, a four-star transfer who is set to visit Syracuse basketball this weekend, has cut his list of contenders down to a half-dozen. The Orange, unsurprisingly, made the cut.

Per On3 national reporter Joe Tipton, Leffew's top six include the 'Cuse, Villanova, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Georgia and Xavier.

The 6-foot-5, 185-pound Leffew had a strong 2023-24 season for Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference ("MAAC") school Mount St. Mary's, which went 13-19 overall this past term.

Leffew averaged 17.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while connecting on 43.0 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Syracuse basketball is in the top six of four-star guard transfer Dakota Leffew.

Per 247Sports, Leffew entered the transfer portal on March 18, which was the first day that the portal opened, and this current window will run for 45 days. Tipton reported on that same day that the Orange was one of numerous college squads which had reached out to Leffew.

Besides Leffew, Delaware senior forward Jyáre Davis, also a four-star transfer prospect, is also expected to visit the 'Cuse this weekend. Syracuse basketball coaches have secured on commitment to date via the portal, as last week, Colorado senior center Eddie Lampkin Jr., a four-star transfer prospect himself, pledged to the Orange.

In national transfer rankings on Thursday night, Leffew checked in at No. 84 overall from 247Sports and No. 133 nationwide via the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking.

To date, at least six players on the Syracuse basketball 2023-24 roster have either entered the portal or plan to, and they are junior center Mounir Hima, sophomore big man Maliq Brown, sophomore center Peter Carey, sophomore guard/wing Quadir Copeland, sophomore guard/wing Justin Taylor, and junior forward Benny Williams, who was dismissed from the program in early February.

Additionally, sophomore point guard Judah Mintz will not return to the team in the 2024-25 stanza. The 'Cuse coaching staff landed a center out of the portal, a key priority, and the Orange is likely also in search of at least one guard (if not more) and a wing player this off-season.

On Wednesday, ESPN senior writer Pete Thamel first reported that the 'Cuse is preparing to hire Dan Engelstad as an assistant coach, filling the void left by the recent departure of associate head coach Gerry McNamara, who is the new head coach at MAAC member Siena.

Engelstad, who is from Bethesda, Md., and has strong recruiting ties to the talent-rich Washington, D.C., market, has for the last six seasons served as the head coach of Mount St. Mary's, guiding the program to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021.