How do you count to nine?

That is actually a simplified version of the real question. How should a major conference basketball program consistently build a nine-man rotation between retaining current players, adding traditional recruits from high and prep schools, and bringing in players from the transfer portal while other players are headed out through the same?

With the portal still a relative novelty in the college basketball world, there is no agreed upon plan that people point to and say, “yes, that’s it.” So, with this degree of unknown, we will scale back and look at how Syracuse seems to be building their roster, possibly unearthing a sensible, repeatable plan that could provide a path to continued success until the next massive change.

The best place to start is with those current Orange players who are returning and the role each filled last season. They are:

• J.J. Starling, starting shooting guard

• Chris Bell, starting small forward

• Naheem McLeod, starting center

• Kyle Cuffe Jr., reserve shooting guard

• Chance Westry, redshirted guard (injury)

• William Patterson, redshirted center (non-injury)

Let’s add the incoming freshmen to the mix:

• Donnie Freeman, forward

• Elijah Moore, shooting guard

And the two transfers who have committed through the portal:

• Eddie Lampkin Jr., center (from Colorado)

• Jyare Davis, power forward (from Delaware)

All told, those ten players provide enough players at the right positions to fill out that nine-man rotation. That rotation might resemble this, with starters listed first:

Guards: Starling, Cuffe, Moore, Westry

Forwards: Bell, Freeman, Davis

Centers: Lampkin, McLeod

As a brief explainer, with Westry essentially missing two full seasons, it is not prudent to put expectations on him at this juncture. Just get a clean bill of health and go from there. With Freeman coming in as a McDonald’s All-American, he seems to slot ahead of Davis, an undersized power forward who is developing his three-point range and can make it work while playing with either Bell or Freeman. With two experienced centers on the roster, Patterson is likely spending another developmental year on the bench, but should get spot minutes as scores permit.

SU, of course, is not done working the portal, though. Guard Dakota Leffew, formerly of Mount St. Mary’s, recently visited campus and Syracuse had also been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Duke guard Jeremy Roach before he committed to Baylor.

The Orange are clearly not done trying to bring in players through the portal, meaning the potential rotation outlined above is not what the coaching staff finds ideal. While the simplest answer may be SU wants to get better at guard (and likely not rely on Starling as the full-time point guard), they may also be looking at implementing a general long-term plan for roster management, at least as far as blending players from those three sources goes.

The Syracuse roster seems to start with bringing in one McDonald’s All-American/top 40 high school recruit per year. The outgoing Judah Mintz, Starling, and Freeman would suggest make this a pair of these recruits on the roster both last and this season. Aiming to have a recruit of this caliber on the roster for two years is a reasonable position and Starling’s injury at Notre Dame may have affected his status. With the modern game being what it is, guards and wings seem to be the target here, positionally.

Beyond one higher-end recruit, bringing in two other top 100 players should be the coaching staff’s goal and they can target players toward the bag of that ranking. These players should be recruited under the premise of developing and possibly being on the back end of the playing rotation as freshmen with the intent of growing into a rotational piece or starter for their sophomore campaigns.

Some of these players will develop along that timeline, but others will not. A reasonable goal is to have one of the two recruits in this range per class stay with the Orange following their second season with the other transferring out.

Should this be the case, a four-year cycle would lead to an SU roster having two top 40 recruits (one freshman and one sophomore) and six other top 100 recruits on the roster (two freshmen, two sophomores, one junior, one senior) on the roster each year. Of those eight players, six should be expected to be in the playing rotation, leaving the two top 100 freshmen potentially in the mix or spending a year adjusting to college.

With the remaining five roster spots and three rotation spots open, the coaching staff then turns to the portal, just as they have done this offseason. And while the committed Davis and Lampkin and potential addition Leffew are all different players, they all have one thing in common – one year of collegiate eligibility left.

That is where the Syracuse staff looks to complete that rotation. Short term fixes coming through the portal keep both flexibility in the roster and playing time in future seasons as a carrot to dangle in front of younger players on the roster in an effort to keep them with the Orange. These fixes also fill holes or shore up weaknesses in the rotation, such as a second center to split playing time (Lampkin) or a swing forward to fill out the rotation with quality depth (Davis).

In this theoretical plan, SU’s coaching staff would be looking for three veterans in the portal to finish out a competitive playing rotation. Inking a trio would bring the roster to nine players for the rotation and 11 total players out of 13 scholarships.

The remaining two spots could be used on a project player who needs to grow their game (Patterson) or a player coming off injury, either out of high school or as a transfer, although with no pressure to be a contributor right away, allowing the player to focus on rehab efforts or development.

If those longer odds options work out, great. If not, those players are free to transfer to another school that may prove to be a better fit.

While this possible plan is not perfect, there is none that is. One player getting hurt or another transferring out as a surprise are just two of the ways any potential roster-building plan can get thrown off-kilter.

But, the one outlined above would keep the Syracuse roster cycling through stars, starters, and reserves while developing talents. A blend of youth and experience combined with a way to keep flexibility and remain an attractive program to players already on the roster, traditional recruits, and portal prospects seems like a good path to sustaining a strong program.

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