What do the changes mean for the Orange program for next season? Well, quite a bit, potentially. Here's what you need to know.
The men's college basketball season officially ended on Monday night as Michigan defeated UConn 69-63 in the national title game. Now that the 2025-2026 season has come to a close, the NCAA transfer portal has officially opened. This means that players have the next two weeks to enter their name into the portal. Players do not have sign with a school in the next two weeks, but they do have to enter their name into the national process if they want to find a different school for the 26-27 season.
Syracuse currently has six players in this year's cycle. The most recent additions are star Donnie Freeman and role player Luke Fennell.
Jeff Borzello of ESPN had the news on Freeman just after 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday. A former top-10 recruit, Freeman averaged 16.5 ppg this past season. He also averaged 7.2 rebounds per night.
Fennell, the freshman forward played just 10 games for the Orange. The 6'6'' Australia native averaged 1.1 points per game.
Freeman will have two years of eligibility and Fennell will have three years of eligibility left. The duo joins the following list of soon-to-be former teammates who have also entered the transfer portal.
Tyler Betsy
The 6-8 sophomore averaged 6.7 points per game this season but found himself as the best perimeter threat for the Orange. Betsy shot 40.7 percent from three. Betsy joined Syracuse after spending the previous season at Cincinnati.
Tiefing Diawara
Diawara saw limited action for the Orange. A seven-foot center from Mali, Diawara struggled to carve out playing time behind William Kyle III and Akir Souare. Diawara appeared in just four games, logging a total of 10 minutes. He scored two points and grabbed three rebounds.
Naithan George
A senior from Canada, George played his first two seasons at Georgia Tech before starting all 32 games for the Orange.
George averaged 10.9 points and 5.4 assists per game. The 6'3' George struggled at times, averaging 3.1 turnovers per game and shooting just 29.3 percent from three-point range. In a similar situation to his former teammate Betsy, George is expected to join his third different school in three seasons.
Aaron Womack
The 6'6' guard from Wisconsin missed all of the season with an injury. He all four years of eligibility left in his collegiate career.
What's next for the Orange?
With four of its five starters now gone via graduation or the portal, Syracuse will continue to do its own recruiting in the portal. On Tuesday, they signed former Siena player Gavin Doty. Doty previously played for head coach Gerry McNamara when he was at Siena.
As our own Brady Farkas noted on Monday, Syracuse has signed 6'7'' Slovenian Mark Morano Mahmutovič earlier this week to the 2026-2027 roster.
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