Syracuse’s top class of the 2023 switches to another shade of orange.
Former Syracuse Orange women’s basketball forward and top-100 recruit Alyssa Latham announced she was committing to the Tennessee Volunteers for the 2024-25 season, becoming the first transfer from last year’s team to secure a new destination for the upcoming year.
Latham — a six-foot-two forward from Glenwood, IL who landed on the ACC All-Freshman team for the Orange in 2023-24 — originally joined Syracuse as one of coach Felisha Legette-Jack’s top prospects from the class of 2023 recruitment cycle. In Latham’s first year with the program, she started in 26 of the Orange’s 32 games this past season and served as a versatile, two-way forward who contributed right away.
She now joins a Tennessee team looking to remain a yearly tournament-bound team under new head coach Kellie Harper, who took over on April 7. Latham previously received interest from Tennessee and announced her commitment on Saturday following a multi-day visit.
AGTG #Committed pic.twitter.com/DChSPUXX65
— Alyssa Latham (@DLyss32) April 21, 2024
In her first and only season with the Orange, Latham averaged 8.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocks in 27.6 minutes per game. She ranked first in rebounds and blocks per game for Syracuse last year, and also finished top-four on the team in points, steals and minutes per game.
Regardless of how you slice it, Latham’s departure is certainly a sizable won. Latham joined the Orange after being ranked No. 72 on ESPN’s top-100 recruitment rankings for the class of 2023 and made an immediate impact on both ends of the court. She eventually played her way to the ACC All-Freshman team, the first time a Syracuse player has landed the nod in five years (Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi in 2018-19).
With Latham now gone, returners Kyra Wood and Saniaa Wilson are the remaining forwards currently left on the roster who are expected to be back for next season. Syracuse will have a few wings/forwards from the class of 2024 recruiting cycle who will be joining the team, but we’ll have to see if Legette-Jack will target another veteran option via the transfer portal.
Shifting more to the long-term, Syracuse still has four promising recruits from the 2024 cycle who will be on the team in 2024-25 — Keira Scott (No. 85 on ESPN’s top-100 list for 2024), Shy Hawkins, Madeline Potts and Olivia Schmitt. There’s also class of 2025 recruit Camdyn Nelson, who announced her commitment to the Orange in February.
With Latham now in Tennessee, three Syracuse players from last year’s roster remain in the transfer portal — Marilena Triantafylli, Kennedi Perkins and Cheyenne McEvans.