It's proven a hectic off-season so far for Syracuse basketball coaches as it pertains to the transfer portal.
The spring transfer portal window in men's college hoops officially opened on March 24 and will run through April 22.
The Orange had 12 scholarship players in the 2024-25 season, and as far as I can tell, only two of those guys will return in 2025-26: junior guard J.J. Starling and freshman power forward Donnie Freeman, who were arguably the program's two best players a stanza ago, although Freeman only appeared in 14 games due to an injury.
Those 2024-25 players who entered the portal have included freshman power forward/center Petar Majstorovic, redshirt sophomore guard/wing Chance Westry, redshirt junior guard Kyle Cuffe Jr., junior small forward Chris Bell and freshman guard Elijah Moore.
Additionally, per media reports, graduate student center Eddie Lampkin Jr. and senior guard/wing Lucas Taylor have also hit the portal, although it's not entirely clear to me how either will end up getting another season of college eligibility.
Syracuse transfer Eddie Lampkin has heard from the following programs, a source told @LeagueRDY:
— Sam Kayser (@247HSHoops) April 10, 2025
Indiana
Arkansas
Missouri
Oklahoma State
Virginia
Auburn
USC
Baylor
UNLV
Texas A&M
Mississippi State
New Orleans
Lampkin averaged 11.5PPG, 9.6RPG and 2.1APG this season at Syracuse. pic.twitter.com/w0E5IWMyfH
Regardless, it's entirely possible that in 2025-26, the Orange could end up facing off against some of its former players. That likely will be the norm moving forward, given the transfer portal's explosion, the evolution of NIL deals, and future revenue-sharing.
Some information on Lucas Taylor and the transfer portal.https://t.co/2LujshNWTP
— Donna Ditota (@DonnaDitota1) April 7, 2025
Syracuse basketball will have quite a different-looking roster next term.
On Monday, per a post on X, top national analyst/scout Brandon Jenkins of 247Sports reported that Bell was on an official visit to Miami. Earlier this month, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports noted that Bell held a Zoom meeting with Pittsburgh, and he's also visited both Seton Hall and Memphis.
Syracuse transfer Chris Bell is currently taking an official visit to #Miami, a source tells @247Sports.
— Brandon Jenkins (@BJenkins247) April 14, 2025
Bell has averaged 9.4 points per game in his three seasons playing for the Orange and is a career 38% shooter from deep.
𝐕𝐈𝐏 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 https://t.co/VagjGO4h1Y pic.twitter.com/CohR6F1G1N
Syracuse transfer Chris Bell recently had a zoom with Pitt, per his father. https://t.co/pU8hna0SS0
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 8, 2025
According to several national analysts, Lampkin has heard from a variety of college programs, including one from the Atlantic Coast Conference in Virginia.
Former Syracuse basketball guard Quadir Copeland, this past term, played for Southland Conference member McNeese State and its head coach, Will Wade. In late March, Wade was named the new head coach at N.C. State.
Quadir Copeland is officially heading to NC State with Will Wade, the McNeese coaching staff and Alyn Breed, here are some highlights from his one season with the Cowboys: https://t.co/rUhb9oFeWf pic.twitter.com/ZX4GwjHtyO
— Matthew Travis (@MatthewJTravis_) April 4, 2025
In early April, word came out that Copeland would join Wade with the Wolfpack. Welcome back to the ACC, Quadir!
At the time of this writing, the Orange's 2025-26 roster included 10 scholarship players. They are:
Naithan George, point guard (he's a transfer from Georgia Tech)
J.J. Starling, shooting guard
Nate Kingz, guard/small forward (he's a transfer from Oregon State)
Donnie Freeman, power forward
William Kyle lll, center (he's a transfer from UCLA)
Kiyan Anthony, shooting guard
Luke Fennell, combo guard
Sadiq White Jr., forward
Aaron Womack, guard/small forward
Ibrahim Souare, power forward/center (he's a transfer from Georgia Tech)