Top Transfer Portal Targets for Adrian Autry and the Syracuse Orange

Syracuse Basketball alum Adrian Autry became the first black head coach in Syracuse Basketball history when it was announced that he would succeed Jim Boeheim in March. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

With recent rule changes within the NCAA, the landscape of college basketball rosters has changed dramatically.

Players are not staying at schools for all four years anymore. Often, players will come in their freshman year, play a season, then either head to the professional level, or enter the transfer portal.

The portal has became the most effective way for coaches and programs to improve their rosters after a season. It has proved to work, with plenty of transfers showing their prowess during the NCAA Tournament this March.

New Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry has already made his mark in the transfer portal world, bringing Notre Dame transfer and Baldwinsville native JJ Starling to the hill just a week after he was named head coach.

Starling is ranked as the 4th best transfer according to 247Sports. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Starling is a great add for the Orange and will make a huge impact, especially next to Judah Mintz if he decides to return and run point guard for the 2023-2024 season.

It is not farfetched to expect Autry to stay active in the transfer portal. Lets take a look at three guys that seem like good fits for Autry and the Orange.

Chance Westry

Westry is a 6'6" combo guard from the University of Auburn. He redshirted his freshman season after undergoing knee surgery. He only appeared in 11 games in a limited role for the tigers before he went down.

Westry was a four star recruit coming out of high school, and had the Orange in his final ten schools.

He is a versatile player who is able to guard multiple positions as well as score at every level.

He would be a nice piece for Autry to add, and it looks like Syracuse is one of his final five schools on his mind for transfer.

Ugonna Onyenso

Onyenso was a five star recruit out of high school, and was offered a scholarship to play for the Orange in February of 2022.

He was initially a member of the 2023 class, before Coach Calipari at Kentucky got him to reclassify and play for the Wildcats as a member of the 2022 class, where he ended up being ranked as a four star recruit.

Onyenso is 6'11" and 225 pounds. That is size that the Orange have not seen in a while, other than with current backup center Mounir Hima.

As a player who reclassified, he is the age of a true freshman going into the 2023-2024 season. There are not reports of specifics hinting at Onyenso to the Orange, but it will be interesting to see if he will be a target for Coach Autry and company.

Hunter Dickinson

The Michigan standout is a long shot for Coach Autry, but why not have a little fun with this?

It was much more likely before fan favorite Jesse Edwards announced that he would return to the 315 for a fifth season, but Dickinson to the Orange is certainly still in the cards.

Dickinson has good ties to the Orange, specifically with new assistant coach Brendan Straughn, who was the associate head coach on Dickinson's Peach Jam winning Team Takeover in 2018.

The tough part about this is that Jesse Edwards is back, and surely he will be the starting center and get most of the minutes. Dickinson most likely won't want to play second string to Edwards.

But maybe he does, or maybe Autry starts both Edwards and Dickson next to each other, creating one of the most intimidating front courts in the nation.

Hunter Dickinson was First-team All Big Ten twice (2021, 2023) in his four year career at Michigan. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The current portal window closes on May 11th. It will be intriguing to see if Autry makes any more moves into the portal.

The biggest question mark of this offseason will be the status of Judah Mintz, who has until May 31st at midnight to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft.

It is already shaping up to be a fun year for basketball in Syracuse. The new era is here.