There’s been a clear pattern to Red’s roster revamp
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Adrian Autry has taken a calculated approach in his first real go at building the Syracuse Orange basketball roster. With Chris Bell as the sole remainder from Jim Boeheim’s final recruiting class, Red can now structure the roster in his vision.
That vision is a two-year plan.
While Donnie Freeman and Elijah Moore are a great pair to have as an initial recruiting class, Autry is razor focused on building a 2025 group to remember. National Top-25 PF Sadiq White verbally committed last week, and the Orange are currently favorites to land several other highly rated prospects, including SG Kiyan Anthony, SF London Jemison, and PG Tyler Jackson.
Additionally, Autry’s staff just extended an offer to C/PF Chris Cenac Jr., a, On3 five-star who ranks in the composite top-10 at either position.
Blessed to receive an offer from Syracuse University #goorange @YGC_Hoops @CoachKevinDTX pic.twitter.com/5m1xoC4mG5
— Chris Cenac Jr. (@chriscenacjr) June 5, 2024
All of these guys have the potential to be day-one contributors, and Red’s other moves are selling the idea of immediate playing time.
In addition to Freeman and Moore, Autry acquired four more players - C Eddie Lampkin, SF Jyare Davis, PG Jaquan Carlos, and, most recently, SG Lucas Taylor - via the transfer portal. The common denominator among the bunch is their eligibility: each is entering their final year of college basketball.
There’s no accident with that approach either; just look at other transfer players Red targeted, such as Dakota Leffew. It’s the same scenario - vets looking for a place to finish in a starting or 6th-man role.
Building for the future while staying competitive is an increasingly challenging feat in the college ranks. It's almost impossible to predict when players you've started to develop are about to jump ship, as we saw with Quadir Copeland and Maliq Brown. But so far, Red is taking this challenge in stride. The next two Orange teams will look very different from one another, and in this age, it's not a bad thing to have happen by design.
