Syracuse Basketball: Former 5-star recruit from Canada will enter the transfer portal

Former Syracuse basketball five-star recruit Elijah Fisher, who hails from Canada, plans to enter the transfer portal, according to multiple media reports.

The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Fisher, a shooting guard/small forward, played his sophomore season during the 2023-24 campaign at Big East Conference member DePaul. As a freshman, he suited up for Texas Tech out of the Big 12 Conference.

Among those to report on the news of Fisher's decision to hit the portal was the X account 24/7 High School Hoops.

The Orange coaching staff, by the way, offered a scholarship to Fisher in July of 2020. When he signed with Texas Tech in late May of 2022, Fisher was originally a member of the 2023 recruiting cycle, but he ended up reclassifying to the 2022 cycle.

Former Syracuse basketball five-star wing target Elijah Fisher is entering the transfer portal.

The Blue Demons, in the most recent 2023-24 stanza, struggled. They finished at 3-29 overall and 0-20 in Big East competition.

In late January of this year, DePaul parted ways with head coach Tony Stubblefield, who was in his third season leading the Chicago-based program. Earlier this month, the Blue Demons named former Ohio State and Butler boss Chris Holtmann as the new head coach of the Blue Demons.

Fisher, who is from Toronto, appeared in all 32 games for DePaul in 2023-24. Per ESPN data, he averaged 31.8 minutes, 10.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest, while connecting on 52.0 percent from the field, 26.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 72.2 percent from the free-throw line.

In the 2022-23 term as a freshman at Texas Tech, Fisher averaged 12.2 minutes, 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.

As a highly rated prospect in the 2022 class out of the Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, Fisher held more than 20 offers from high-major programs such as Texas Tech, Kentucky, Florida State, Arizona, Wake Forest, Seton Hall, Georgia Tech, St. John’s, West Virginia, Kansas, Southern California, Texas A&M, Florida, Vanderbilt, Baylor, Memphis, Oklahoma State and Oregon.

While in prep school, Fisher was rated as four stars and in the top 40 overall, according to numerous recruiting Web sites. ESPN had him as five stars in the 2022 cycle.

When I wrote this article on Tuesday, in its national transfer rankings, 247Sports placed Fisher as three stars, No. 157 overall and No. 27 at shooting guard.

The transfer portal opened last Monday, March 18, and it will remain open for 45 days. To date, at least three members of the Syracuse basketball 2023-24 roster have decided to hit the portal: sophomore guards/wings Justin Taylor and Quadir Copeland, along with junior forward Benny Wiliams, who was dismissed from the Orange program in early February.