Syracuse basketball was reportedly a finalist for 4-star transfer PG Dedan Thomas Jr.

One of the highest-ranked point guards in the transfer portal apparently had Syracuse basketball on his short list before heading to the Southeastern Conference.

UNLV sophomore Dedan Thomas Jr. has decided to transfer to LSU out of the SEC, according to a post on X from On3 national reporter Joe Tipton.

According to Tipton, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Thomas picked the Tigers over Kentucky, Florida and the 'Cuse.

Interesting.

I hadn't previously seen any publicly available reports linking the Orange to Thomas, but then again, the Syracuse basketball staff is likely in communication with a lot of college transfers behind the scenes.

To that end, the current transfer portal window officially opened for business on March 24 and will run until April 22. Reports have noted a variety of college transfers who have heard from the 'Cuse, and the Orange has landed at least one player out of the portal so far this off-season.

Syracuse basketball has plenty of scholarships available for the next term.

In the recently completed 2024-25 stanza, the 'Cuse had 12 scholarship players. Five exhausted their eligibility. Five have elected to hit the portal. Two are returning. The Orange's 2025 class at the high school level includes four signees, and UCLA junior power forward/center William Kyle lll is transferring to Syracuse basketball.

My point here is that the 'Cuse has a lot of scholarships remaining for 2025-26, and from my perspective, a critical position of need is point guard.

Thomas, in 2024-25, averaged 35.8 minutes, 15.6 points, 4.7 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game while making 41.3 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from beyond the arc and 72.1 percent from the free-throw line, according to ESPN statistics.

This past season, Mountain West Conference member UNLV went 18-15 overall. Late last month, the Rebels named former Georgia Tech boss Josh Pastner as their new head coach.

When I wrote this article, in 247Sports' national transfer rankings, Thomas arrived as four stars, No. 4 overall and No. 3 at point guard.

According to reports and comments from recruiting analysts, those college transfers who have heard from the Syracuse basketball staff so far this off-season include 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.