Syracuse basketball has several center options in the portal
Earlier this week, Syracuse center Jesse Edwards entered the transfer portal for his final year of eligibility.
According to Syracuse.com's Donna Ditota, after trying to sort out possibilities to stay with the Orange with various NIL deals, Edwards couldn't come to an agreement and announced he would enter the transfer portal.
With the departure of Syracuse’s starting center, head coach Adrian Autry has work to do to sure up the center position.
Here are options for the Orange, some who have confirmed interest from SU, and others that are simply intriguing prospects.
Moussa Cisse was a Rivals five-star rated center and the No. 14 overall prospect in the 2020 class, and committed to Memphis out of Lausanne Collegiate School (TN). He has yet to live up to that elite rating, averaging 6.9 ppg and 7.0 rpg in 89 college games through two schools (Memphis and Oklahoma State).
But while his offensive game is still mostly limited to shots around the basket, no one is denying his defensive prowess, as he averaged 1.9 blocks per game for the Cowboys in the past season in just 22.6 minutes per game.
CBS Sports' John Rothstein reported on Thursday that Syracuse is among the schools recruiting him after he entered the transfer portal. Ironically, Memphis is one of the schools that reached out.
North Texas transfer Abou Ousmane is a 6-foot-10, 230-pound rising senior with two years of eligbility remaining. He averaged 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds for the Mean Green last season, and he's a Brooklyn native.
Basketball Insider Adam Zagoria reports Ousmane is taking an official visit to Syracuse next week, and is also hearing from Seton Hall, Providence, Xavier and DePaul.
Hunter Dickinson announced in March he was entering his name in the transfer portal after four seasons with Michigan, an immediately became one of the top recruits in the portal.
Since his freshman season Dickinson has been a dominant force down low in the Big 10 and averaged 18.5 points and 9 rebounds alongside almost 2 blocks and assists per game. Though Michigan underperformed at 18-16 and ended the year losing in the NIT, Dickinson was still able to display is all-around skillset.
Dickinson played for Team Takeover in high school, and new assistant coach Brendan Straughn used to coach there. That was likely a contributing factor in the Orange coaching staff meeting on Zoom with Dickinson, reports Barstool Sports' Marty Mush.
A wrinkle in this recruitment is Dickinson was also linked to Kentucky, but with Ugonna Kingsley announcing his return to the Wildcats, that would seem to close the door on that potential landing spot.
As a three star center and the 31st ranked center recruit in the class of 2022, Kebba Njie came off the bench as a freshman for an overachieving Penn State squad.
Nije shot nearly 60 percent from the field, averaging 3.4 points and 3.5 rebounds a game in limited time as a rotation player.
Following a loss to Texas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry announced he was taking the head coaching job at Notre Dame. Shortly after, Nijie announced his entry into the portal.
Since the news of his transfer, Nije has heard from teams including Indiana, Texas, and BYU. Nije becomes a sought out center that Syracuse could develop towards a prominent role.
Junior Daniel Batcho departed from Texas Tech into the portal following the end of a disappointing Texas Tech season.
The 6-foot-11, 235-pound Frenchman played over 25 minutes a game and averaged 8 points and 6 rebounds, and was a bright spot on an otherwise down year.
It would actually be his third school if he ultimately lands at another schools, since he started his career with Arizona.
Batcho has successfully improved after a rough start to his collegiate career, and is a great addition to add at center through the transfer portal.
After his fourth year in the SEC as a Volunteer, Finland native Olivier Nkahmoua entered the portal for his final season of eligibility. At 6’9" Nkahmoua is listed as a forward, but would be a great fit at center for Syracuse.
Nkahmoua had a game high 27 points to go along with five rebounds as Tennessee took down Duke 65-52 in the Sweet 16. The performance raised his stock significantly after a season where he averaged 10.8 ppg and 5.0 rpg.
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