Syracuse Basketball: The transfer portal floodgates are opening for the 'Cuse program

The transfer portal window for men's hoops officially opens on Monday, and already, news has come out that at least three players on Syracuse basketball's 2024-25 roster plan to enter the portal.

First, last Friday, word broke that redshirt junior guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. will hit the portal. A day later, on Saturday, per various media reports, we learned that junior small forward Chris Bell and freshman guard Elijah Moore will also go into the portal.

Most importantly, Orange Nation wishes all these players well at their next collegiate homes.

Candidly, I was a bit surprised that Kyle plans to depart. I wasn't surprised at all that Chris is. If I were a betting man, once the 2024-25 season was over, I would have put the odds at 50-50 that Moore would have left.

This off-season will be interesting for Syracuse basketball.

Per the NCAA, the transfer portal window for men's basketball will run from March 24 to April 22. It's certainly possible that we could hear of other current Orange players deciding to enter the portal later on Sunday and, of course, on Monday and in the early part of this week.

Such is life these days in collegiate hoops. There have also been some reports about at least two college transfers from other programs who have received some level of interest from the 'Cuse coaching staff.

The 6-foot-7 Bell started the 2024-25 stanza on a rough note, and he eventually lost his spot in the starting rotation. However, as the season carried on, his shooting got better. For all of 2024-25, Bell averaged 21.5 minutes, 9.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per contest while making 40.7 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from 3-point land and 77.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Moore was part of the team's three-member 2024 class at the prep level. In this cycle, he was a top-60 national prospect and a top-10 shooting guard coming out of New York City.

It proved an up-and-down freshman campaign for the 6-foot-4 Moore. He missed the last few weeks of the 2024-25 term due to an injury, most recently suiting up on February 15 in the Orange's home loss to North Carolina.

Moore did put forth some stellar performances, and he was in the starting rotation for a handful of games, but Moore was also inconsistent with his production. He averaged 15.7 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per encounter while connecting on 39.1 percent from the field, 31.5 percent from deep and 75.0 percent from the charity stripe.

In 2024-25, the second year under Adrian Autry as the program's head coach, Syracuse basketball went 14-19 overall and missed the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight stanza.

Of the Orange's 12 scholarship players this past term, five exhausted their college eligibility. Since three guys are entering the transfer portal, those four current players with decisions to make about their future are junior guard J.J. Starling, freshman power forward Donnie Freeman, freshman forward Petar Majstorovic and redshirt sophomore guard/wing Chance Westry.

The team's 2025 class at the high school level consists of four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony, four-star forward Sadiq White Jr., four-star combo guard Luke Fennell and three-star wing Aaron Womack.