ACC Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2024-25 season

11. Syracuse Orange 

2023-24 season record: 20-12 (11-9 ACC)

Although they ultimately didn’t make the NCAA Tournament, Coach Adrian Autry had a good first season, pushing the Orange to 20 wins. But lots of changes have occurred to the roster, including most notably, Judah Mintz. The star guard led the team with 18.8 ppg and 4.8 apg and has entered the NBA Draft.

Other key pieces that left include Justin Taylor, Quadir Copeland, Benny Williams, and Malik Brown. Two guys who were highly touted a year ago and are sticking around for now are Kyle Cuffe and Chance Westry, with Westry missing this past season due to an injury. 

Two important returning pieces coming back are JJ Starling (13.3 ppg) and Chris Bell (12.0 ppg), who’ll have an even larger role next season. A trio of transfer commits are set to have their own spots in the rotation, including Colorado big man Eddie Lampkin, as well as Delaware transfer forward, Jyare Davis (17.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg). Guard Jaquan Carlos (10.4 ppg and 6.3 apg) is likely to replace Mintz as the point guard of the offense.

Depending on how good the two incoming freshmen are (Donnie Freeman and Elijah Moore), Syracuse might be a surprise team in the ACC next season. But they’ll need the pieces to fit and to make sure that the ball-handling situation works out. We’ll see if Starling takes another step in his development now that Mintz is gone.