Syracuse Basketball: Peter Carey to transfer, SU must grab veteran center via portal

Syracuse basketball sophomore center Peter Carey has entered the transfer portal, according to a recruiting service, and Orange Nation wishes this young man nothing but great success moving forward.

Verbal Commits, on Wednesday afternoon, first reported that the 6-foot-11, 205-pound Carey had entered the portal. To date, he becomes at the least the fourth player on the Orange's 2023-24 roster to decide to transfer this off-season.

Carey, who hails from Sunderland, Mass., and played at the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Mount Hermon, Mass., before coming to the Hill, is an athletic and promising big man.

However, he unfortunately had to deal with injuries throughout his tenure on the Hill. As a freshman in the 2022-23 stanza, Carey only appeared in three games due to knee issues.

In the most recent 2023-24 campaign, Carey played in 14 contests, averaging about five minutes per affair. As a sophomore, he also missed a couple of games due to being in concussion protocol.

Syracuse basketball, ahead of next season, needs to boost its front-court depth.

Looking ahead to the 2024-25 season, it seems likely that the 'Cuse coaching staff will want to add another experienced center. This past term, the Orange had four centers on its roster: Carey, junior Naheem McLeod, junior Mounir Hima and freshman William Patterson.

McLeod, in 2023-24, was the team's starting center but only appeared in 14 games after suffering a season-ending injury. Hima, who only averaged 3.4 minutes per contest, participated in the squad's Senior Night ceremony during this past season as a fourth-year junior.

Patterson, meanwhile, is expected to take a redshirt for 2023-24 after not seeing the court at all in any games.

Part of what I'm curious to determine is whether Syracuse basketball coaches anticipate McLeod will be the Orange's starting center in 2024-25. After he got injured this past stanza, sophomore power forward Maliq Brown took over the center spot.

Brown had an excellent sophomore year, getting named to the All-ACC defensive team. But at 6-foot-8 and 222 pounds, he's undersized as a traditional center, and I don't think Brown is the best long-term option for the 'Cuse at this position.

The Orange's 2024 incoming class has two members, including five-star power forward Donnie Freeman, who is ranked as high as No. 10 nationally in the high school senior cycle. But similar to Brown, I don't believe Freeman is the best option at center, either.

The transfer portal opened on Monday, March 18, and it will run for 45 days. As I've noted in other recent columns, numerous highly regarded centers have already hit the portal. I'll be interested to see which transfer bigs, if any, the Syracuse basketball staff may end up pursuing.

Available scholarships won't be an issue. The 'Cuse had 13 scholarship players in 2023-24. It will have two incoming freshmen in 2024-25. Those players on the 2023-24 roster who plan to transfer include Carey, junior forward Benny Williams (who was dismissed from the program in early February), and sophomore guards/wings Justin Taylor and Quadir Copeland.

Assuming Hima also doesn't return, by my count, that gives the Orange three open scholarships for 2024-25, and that's not factoring in whether any other current roster members also decide to transfer this off-season.