NCAA Basketball: 15 teams that still need roster help after 2023 transfer portal deadline

Syracuse Orange

The program made one of the biggest changes in NCAA Basketball on the coaching sidelines, replacing Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim with longtime assistant, Adrian Autry. The program had one of the earlier splashes, landing Notre Dame transfer guard, JJ Starling.

The problem is that for a team that wasn’t close to making the Big Dance last season, they certainly haven’t gotten much better from a roster standpoint. Two of the team’s three best players (Joe Girard and Jesse Edwards) have transferred out, while the third (Judah Mintz) is in the NBA Draft process and the odds are decent that he’ll stay in.

The only other pickup for the Orange has been Chance Westry, a former top-50 shooting guard from Auburn that didn’t play last season. They’ll need him to be a breakout star to even have a chance next year. Syracuse also doesn’t have a starting-caliber center on the roster either, so that’s arguably an even bigger need for them this offseason.

The Orange may land Florida State transfer and 7’4 big man, Naheem McLeod, who played around 11 mpg last season. Getting him wouldn’t solve all of the issues for the program but he certainly would add needed depth to the frontcourt.