Syracuse Basketball: Monmouth transfer forward Jaret Valencia is visiting the 'Cuse

Monmouth redshirt sophomore forward Jaret Valencia is currently visiting Syracuse basketball, according to his Instagram page and other media reports.

I had previously noted in a column that amid the transfer portal window being open in college hoops, the 6-foot-9, 190-pound Valencia had garnered some level of interest from a variety of high-major programs, including the Orange, SMU, Miami, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Rutgers, St. Bonaventure, Oregon State, New Mexico, Toledo, UAB and DePaul.

He also recently visited Wichita State, per his X account. The current transfer portal window runs through April 22, although players who want to transfer to a new program just have to be in the portal by that date; they don't have to be committed to a new school at that time.

In the 2024-25 campaign for Coastal Athletic Association member Monmouth, Valencia, who is originally from Quibdó, Colombia, averaged 22.9 minutes, 6.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while making 44.0 percent from the field, 34.1 percent from 3-point land and 60.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Syracuse basketball is hosting a transfer forward on a visit to the SU campus.

So far this off-season, the 'Cuse coaching staff has secured commitments from five college transfers. They are Oregon State redshirt junior guard/wing Nate Kingz, UCLA junior power forward/center William Kyle lll, Georgia Tech sophomore point guard Naithan George, Montana State junior guard Bryce Zephir and Georgia Tech redshirt freshman big man Ibrahim Souare.

When I wrote this article on Tuesday night, the Syracuse basketball transfer class this off-season was ranked No. 16 overall on the On3 Web site and No. 32 via the 247Sports Web site.

Looking ahead to the 2025-26 term, the Orange also has two returnees from a stanza ago, along with four 2025 signees at the high school level. Thus, Syracuse basketball has 11 scholarship players on its 2025-26 roster, with the team still having four scholarships available.

While I don't anticipate that the Orange staff will bring on board four more scholarship players for 2025-26, positions of potential need for additional depth could include another point guard, a 3-point specialist out on the wing, a combo forward or a power forward/center.

According to reports and comments from recruiting analysts, college transfers who have heard from the 'Cuse this off-season include Tarleton State freshman forward Keitenn Bristow, Florida State sophomore forward Jerry Deng, Arizona sophomore guard KJ Lewis, Cal State Northridge senior small forward Keonte Jones, UNLV sophomore point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., Dayton redshirt junior point guard Malachi Smith, Georgia sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr., Arkansas State junior guard Derrian Ford, Clemson freshman guard Del Jones, Robert Morris junior guard/forward Amarion Dickerson, North Dakota junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff, North Dakota State senior guard Jacari White and Drexel junior guard Kobe Magee.