Syracuse basketball's 2025 top-20 national class arrives on the Hill, ready to work

Syracuse basketball's college transfers and incoming freshmen are ready to get to work.

The Orange, this off-season, had a significant roster makeover ahead of the 2025-26 season, when the program will look to return to the annual NCAA Tournament after a four-year absence. The team's roster of 13 scholarship players only includes two returnees, although they're big ones: rising senior guard J.J. Starling and rising sophomore power forward Donnie Freeman, both of whom will again be in the starting rotation during head coach Adrian Autry's third stanza at the helm on the Hill.

The 'Cuse staff, buoyed by the recruiting prowess of general manager Alex Kline, fared well in the transfer portal this off-season, landing six college transfers, three of whom are rated four stars, with the other trio ranked as three stars.

Per posts on X from the Syracuse basketball program, all six transfers are now in Syracuse. Those transfers are Georgia Tech point guard Naithan George, Montana State guard Bryce Zephir, Oregon State wing Nate Kingz, Cincinnati forward Tyler Betsey, Georgia Tech big man Ibrahim Souare and UCLA center William Kyle lll.

George should be the Orange's starting point guard in 2025-26. Kyle is likely the squad's starting center, while Kingz is an elite 3-point shooter who will command sizable minutes. The 'Cuse 2025 transfer class is No. 34 around the country, per 247Sports.

Melo's son is pumped to play for Syracuse basketball.

Also arriving in Central New York in recent days are 2025 commits Kiyan Anthony, a shooting guard from New York City, forward Sadiq White Jr. from Charlotte, N.C., and guard/wing Aaron Womack from the Milwaukee area.

Anthony, whose father is 'Cuse legend Carmelo Anthony, and White are both four-star, top-35 national prospects in the 2025 class, as well as ranked in the top 10 at their respective positions. The three-star Womack is a tremendous scorer and, frankly, an underrated prospect.

The other two incoming freshmen are four-star combo guard Luke Fennell from Melbourne, Australia, and three-star center Tiefing Diawara, who is originally from Mali and played this past season for a prep-school program in Delafield, Wis.

According to Syracuse.com Hall of Fame writer Mike Waters, Fennell and Diawara won't arrive in Syracuse for a couple more weeks. Fennell, as I've reported, is playing for Australia in the upcoming FIBA U19 World Cup from June 28 to July 6 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he'll face off in Group D play against Syracuse basketball 2026 five-star priority recruit Jordan Smith Jr. and the rest of the USA Basketball U19 national team.

The Orange's 2025 class at the high school level is No. 12 nationwide, while this 'Cuse cycle is No. 18 overall, per 247Sports.