Syracuse Basketball: Transfer big Noah Waterman, NY native, would be a great fit at SU

Word broke this week that BYU senior big man Noah Waterman has entered the transfer portal, and I've seen a ton of comments from Syracuse basketball fans on social media and in chat rooms stating that they hope Orange coaches will give Waterman a look.

The 6-foot-11 Waterman, who has one year of collegiate eligibilty remaining, is a native of Savannah, N.Y., which is about 40 miles away from Syracuse. He started his career at Niagara before heading to Detroit Mercy and then Big 12 Conference member BYU.

While the spring transfer-portal window in college basketball closed on May 1, his head coach at BYU, Mark Pope, took the top job at Kentucky, meaning that Waterman had 30 days after Pope's departure for the Wildcats to enter the portal, per media reports.

Naturally, we'll have to see if Pope and Kentucky end up pursuing Waterman. Candidly, I do not know if there is any sort of mutual interest between the 'Cuse staff and Waterman.

That being said, given that the Orange's 2024-25 roster is currently somewhat thin in the front court, it's understandable why some Syracuse basketball fans, myself included, would love to see 'Cuse coaches get into the mix for Waterman.

Of course, what kind of fit Waterman is looking for, what his expectations are as far as playing time at a new school (he was a starter at BYU), and what the Orange staff could offer him, are factors to consider here.

Syracuse basketball, this off-season, is likely in need of another power forward/center for the next term.

In 2023-24, as BYU went 23-11 overall and made this spring's NCAA Tournament, Waterman averaged 24.1 minutes, 9.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest, while connecting on 45.7 percent from the field, 37.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.7 percent from the free-throw line, according to ESPN data.

Before joining Niagara, Waterman was a standout at the Finger Lakes Christian School in Seneca Falls, N.Y., which is also not far from Syracuse.

He was an unranked prospect in the high school recruiting class of 2019, although Waterman was a star at Finger Lakes Christian.

According to his bio on the BYU athletics department Web site, Waterman was named the MVP of the Empire State Christian Athletic League in 2017 and 2018. As a senior, he averaged 33.9 points and 12.6 rebounds per game, which is impressive.

Looking ahead to 2024-25, when I wrote this article on Tuesday, Syracuse basketball had 10 scholarship players on its roster, with three open scholarships remaining.

If we're talking about the power forward and center spots, on the Orange's roster are Delaware senior transfer Jyáre Davis, incoming five-star freshman Donnie Freeman from Washington, D.C., junior Naheem McLeod and Colorado senior transfer Eddie Lampkin Jr.