Where Syracuse Basketball Stands With Portal Bigs
Syracuse basketball has been active evaluating transfer portal bigs since Jesse Edwards departed. While Edwards is down to three schools and appears to be closing in on a decision, the Orange is not quite that far along. Here is where things currently stand.
The Big Name
Hunter Dickinson is the top big in the portal and would be a huge win for Syracuse as a replacement for Edwards. Syracuse had a zoom meeting with him on Wednesday, but no word on a potential visit. Dickinson is reportedly visiting Maryland and Georgetown with Kansas also recruiting him heavily. Interestingly, Kansas made Edwards' final three. The key here for Syracuse is getting a visit from Dickinson. If not, there is clearly no shot. Even with one it will be a tough one to land, but it at least gives you a chance.
Mid-Major Flavor
North Texas big Abou Ousmane is supposed to take an official visit next week, according to a report from Adam Zagoria. Seton Hall, Xavier and others are also pursuing Ousmane. The 6-10, 230 pounder is originally from Brooklyn, meaning a move to Syracuse or Seton Hall would bring him much closer to home. Ousmane has increased his points, rebounds and blocks per game in each of his three seasons at North Texas while also improving his free throw percentage. Ousmane averaged 11.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 24.3 minutes per game last season.
Other Options
According to a report from Brent Huot, Syracuse has internally discussed four under the radar transfer bigs. They are Seny N’Diaye (South Carolina Upstate), Kaosi Ezeagu (Sam Houston), Jalen Johnson (Milwaukee) and Aleu Aleu (UTSA). N'Diaye is 6-10, 225 pounds, originally from Senegal, and averaged 1.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game last season in just 8.7 minutes. Ezeagu played at Kansas State before transferring to Sam Houston. He started all 33 games last season, averaging 5.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 19.3 minutes per game. Johnson was a reserve for Milwaukee last season averaging 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 13 minutes per game. The year before, the 6-8, 230 pounder was at Alabama A&M where he averaged 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Aleu is a 6-9, 200 pounder who has played sparingly during his two seasons at UTSA. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 11.7 minutes last season. Aleu is, however, listed as a wing on UTSA's website.
Moussa Cisse (Oklahoma State) has also received interest from Syracuse according to reports. Cisse started at Memphis before transferring to Oklahoma State. He has started every game in which he has played over the last three seasons across both schools, averaging 6.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 20.5 minutes per game. Cisse is the former Big-12 Defensive Player of the Year during the 2021-22 season when he lead the conference in blocks.
Who else could Syracuse look at? Perhaps a 7-0, 245 pounder in Shawn Phillips out of LSU. Or 7-0, 240 pound Efton Reid out of Gonzaga. Or 6-8, 210 pound Tyrese Samuel out of Seton Hall. Or former recruiting target Elijah Hutchins-Everett out of Austin Peay.
The point is there are a lot of options and Syracuse will add a big to the roster before next season.
SUPPORT ALL SYRACUSE
SUBSCRIBE TO ALLSYRACUSE.COM NOW TO GET ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE INSIDER CONTENT
JOIN THE ALL SYRACUSE FORUMS FOR FREE AND DISCUSS THE ORANGE WITH OTHER FANS AND OUR STAFF
