Plenty to be on the lookout for this spring.
The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team over the next few months faces a key stretch to try and reshape the roster after the program finished the 2024-25 season with its worst record in over five decades.
In today’s world of college basketball and given the team’s current makeup, expect the Syracuse roster for next season to look a lot different. Five seniors are departing for good and the Orange will have at least four scholarships to offer for any transfers or late additions, assuming none of the remaining 11 players opt to depart themselves.
To help you get prepared for what could be a pretty busy offseason, here are the key dates and deadlines to keep in mind going forward:
March 24: transfer portal officially opens
Starting next Monday, the transfer portal window officially begins for men’s college basketball. Student-athletes have an additional 30 days to enter the portal if their coach leaves for whatever reason. Considering coach Adrian Autry will be returning for next season, that would not apply for any current Syracuse players.
In alphabetical order and based purely on who is simply just eligible to enter the portal, the list of Orange players who can do so include seven names:
- Chris Bell
- Kyle Cuffe Jr.
- Donnie Freeman
- Petar Majstorovic
- Elijah Moore
- J.J. Starling
- Chance Westry
We can confirm Cuffe spoke with Autry and said he plans to return to the Orange for 2025-26.
Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
Among the Syracuse players from last year who could enter the portal, the three “x-factors” are like Starling (the Orange’s leading scorer from 2024-25), Bell (who has already played three years for Syracuse and is one of three remaining seniors who could return along with Starling and Cuffe) and Freeman (Syracuse’s top recruit from last year who was ruled out midseason with injury and boasts several pathways this offseason).
April 22: final transfer portal day
The window for transfers concludes on April 22. That leaves student-athletes with exactly 30 days to make a decision about what comes next.
Without delving too much into the weeds, Syracuse will be losing Eddie Lampkin, Jyare Davis, Lucas Taylor, Naheem McLeod, and Jaquan Carlos all to eligibility/graduation. The Orange’s current class of commitments includes Kiyan Anthony, Sadiq White Jr., Luke Fennell and Aaron Womack.
Arguably the biggest key portal need for the Orange right now on paper is at center with both Lampkin and McLeod gone. A lot will obviously depend on what else shakes out and which current members of the Orange depart for good.
April 26: NBA early entry deadline
Of anyone left on Syracuse’s roster, Freeman has the most choices. If Freeman choose to not enter the portal, he will still have until April 26 to submit his name as an early entry for the 2025 NBA Draft.
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A pair of recent mock drafts unveiled just a few days ago by ESPN and Bleacher Report do not have Freeman named as a top-60 pick. At one point, Freeman was projected as high as lottery territory by The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, but has since slipped down.
Keep in mind: this deadline obviously comes several days after the transfer portal window closes.
June 15: NBA early entry withdrawal deadline
If Freeman doesn’t transfer but does choose to enter early into the draft and go through the process, he’ll have until June 15 at 5 p.m. EST to withdrawal and in this scenario return to the Orange.