Syracuse Basketball: Former 5-star PG recruit Aden Holloway enters transfer portal

Auburn freshman point guard Aden Holloway, who held a scholarship offer from Syracuse basketball while in high school, has entered the transfer portal, according to various media reports.

Top national analyst/scout Jamie Shaw of On3 was among those to report on Tuesday that the 6-foot-1, 178-pound Holloway has hit the portal.

The current transfer-portal cycle opened on Monday, March 18, and it will run for 45 days. At least five players on the Orange's 2023-24 roster have entered the portal.

Conversely, the 'Cuse has secured at least one commitment so far via the portal, with Syracuse basketball coaches reportedly showing interest in numerous other college players who are in the portal, according to national analysts and reports in recent weeks.

While I'm not suggesting that Orange coaches are necessarily going to pursue Holloway, a likely area of need for the 'Cuse this off-season from the portal is to secure a point guard ahead of the 2024-25 term.

Former Syracuse basketball five-star point-guard target Aden Holloway has entered the transfer portal.

Auburn, out of the Southeastern Conference, went 27-8 overall in the 2023-24 stanza. The Tigers won the SEC Tournament. As a No. 4 seed in this spring's NCAA Tournament, Auburn lost in the round of 64 to No. 13 seed Yale.

During his freshman year with the Tigers, per ESPN data, Holloway appeared in all 35 games. He averaged 20.2 minutes, 7.3 points, 2.7 assists and 1.5 rebounds per contest, while connecting on 31.8 percent from the field, 30.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 77.4 percent from the free-throw line.

According to recruiting services, the Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to the Charlotte, N.C., native in the summer of 2019. Holloway, once he picks a new collegiate home, is expected to have three years of eligibility left.

Holloway competed for the Covenant Day School in Matthews, N.C., the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind., and then Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif.

Central New York native J.J. Starling, a sophomore guard with Syracuse basketball, also played at La Lumiere, where he was a McDonald's All-American.

Holloway, too, was a McDonald's All-American in his final year of prep school. As a member of the 2023 recruiting cycle, he was rated as five stars, No. 18 nationally, No. 4 at point guard and No. 2 in California, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

To date, those Orange 2023-24 players who have hit the portal include 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.

With Copeland and Taylor in the portal, and sophomore Judah Mintz unlikely to return in 2024-25, Syracuse basketball coaches are likely searching for a point guard via the portal this off-season.

Ahead of the next term, the Orange will bring in 2024 five-star power forward Donnie Freeman from Washington, D.C., 2024 four-star shooting guard Elijah Moore from New York City, and Colorado senior center Eddie Lampkin Jr., a four-star transfer who committed to the 'Cuse last week.