Syracuse basketball contacts 4-star transfer Roddy Gayle Jr., former priority recruit

Syracuse basketball is one of numerous schools that have reached out to Ohio State transfer Roddy Gayle Jr., a talented sophomore wing who was heavily recruited by the Orange while he was in high school.

The 6-foot-4 Gayle, who is from Niagara Falls, N.Y., has heard from a range of college squads since enter the transfer portal, including the ‘Cuse, BYU, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Michigan, Clemson, Cincinnati, Georgetown, Texas, Pittsburgh, Xavier and Louisville, per a post on X from top expert 24/7 High School Hoops.

Gayle had a solid sophomore season in the 2023-24 campaign for the Buckeyes, although Ohio State has a new head coach. This past term, Ohio State went 22-14 overall, reaching the quarterfinals of the NIT.

In mid-February, the school announced that it had fired head coach Chris Holtmann. Roughly a month later, the Buckeyes named interim head coach Jake Diebler as the program's permanent head coach.

Syracuse basketball has reached out to former four-star target Roddy Gayle Jr.

Gayle was a four-star, top-50 national prospect in the 2022 class who starred for the powerhouse Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, before joining Ohio State. One of his Wasatch teammates was Orange sophomore small forward Chris Bell.

Prior to competing for Wasatch, Gayle was a star at Lewiston-Porter High School in Youngstown, N.Y. He had Syracuse basketball in his top six, along with Ohio State, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Marquette and Georgetown, before ultimately selecting the Buckeyes.

When I wrote this article on Monday night, in 247Sports' national transfer rankings, Gayle checked in at four stars, No. 28 overall and No. 5 at shooting guard.

As a sophomore for Ohio State in 2023-24, Gayle averaged 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, while connecting on 44.9 percent from the field, 28.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.2 percent from the free-throw line, per ESPN data.

The transfer portal opened on Monday, March 18, and it will run for 45 days. To date, at least five ‘Cuse players on the team’s 2023-24 roster have hit the portal, and they are 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.

Sophomore point guard Judah Mintz isn’t likely to return either. The same goes for fourth-year junior center Mounir Hima.

Syracuse basketball brings in two 2024 commits in five-star power forward Donnie Freeman from Washington, D.C., and four-star shooting guard Elijah Moore from New York City.

Last week, Colorado senior center Eddie Lampkin Jr., a four-star transfer this off-season, said he would commit to the ‘Cuse.

The Orange, which should have multiple open scholarships available ahead of 2024-25, will continue to mine the portal this off-season for various positions, including a point guard and perhaps a wing player who can shoot well from deep.

Besides Gayle, other transfers who the ‘Cuse coaching staff has reached out to in recent weeks include Hofstra junior guard/small forward Darlinstone Dubar, Hofstra junior point guard Jaquan Carlos, Minnesota sophomore forward Pharrel Payne, Milwaukee junior wing BJ Freeman, Mount St. Mary's senior guard Dakota Leffew and UNC Greensboro senior forward Mikeal Brown-Jones.