So far this off-season, Syracuse basketball coaches are hitting a home run in the transfer portal.
The current transfer portal window opened late last month and will run through April 22. At this juncture, the Orange staff has secured commitments from three college transfers, and the 'Cuse has numerous scholarships still available for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign.
The most recent pledge came on Friday from four-star transfer point guard Naithan George, a sophomore at fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Georgia Tech who led the ACC in assists per game this past stanza.
To me, the Orange landing the 6-foot-3, 185-pound George, who hails from Toronto, is simply a massive pick-up for the program. Syracuse basketball needed to grab a talented, veteran point guard out of the portal for 2025-26, and it has done so.
In national transfer rankings, George is highly rated, and the Orange's transfer class currently arrives in the top 10 overall.
Syracuse basketball is faring well in the transfer portal this off-season.
When I wrote this article on Saturday morning, on the 247Sports Web site, the 'Cuse three-member transfer class checked in at No. 8 around the country. The Orange's four-member prep cycle, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, was No. 10 nationwide, and overall, the Syracuse basketball 2025 class was No. 8 across the country.
Here are the rankings for the Orange's three college transfers, via the 247Sports Web site:
Naithan George, a sophomore point guard at Georgia Tech
Four stars, No. 31 overall and No. 7 at point guard
Nate Kingz, a redshirt junior guard/wing at Oregon State
Four stars
William Kyle lll, a junior power forward/center at UCLA
Three stars, No. 207 overall and No. 38 at power forward
In the 2024-25 season, Syracuse basketball had 12 scholarship players. Five exhausted their collegiate eligibility. Five hit the transfer portal. Two are returning. That means the current 2025-26 roster includes nine players, and the 'Cuse staff has six scholarships remaining.
Syracuse basketball, in George, has its likely starting point guard for 2025-26. I assume Kingz, who is excellent from beyond the arc, will get major minutes, whether as a starter or key reserve. And Kyle is an athletic big man who shines, in particular, on the defensive end.
With a half-dozen scholarships left, from my perspective, Orange coaches will likely remain on the look-out for another center as well as 3-point specialists out on the wing.