The offseason is underway for the Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team, and one of the program’s most recent recruits appears to not be returning for the 2026-27 season.
Justus Fitzgerald — a six-foot-one forward who played sparingly this past year — will be entering the transfer portal, she announced Tuesday in a post on Instagram. Fitzgerald is the first player from the 2025-26 roster who is confirmed to be heading to the portal.
Fitzgerald played in 11 games for the Orange this past year. She
averaged 7.6 minutes, 2.0 rebounds, 0.2 assists, 0.5 steals and o.2 blocks in her one season with Syracuse.
Fitzgerald initially committed to the Orange in September 2024 over offers from Howard, Georgia State, Furman and Georgetown. She last suited up for the Orange on March 1 versus Boston College.
The announcement is notable given Syracuse could look to add forward depth this offseason. Outside of Fitzgerald, starting four Journey Thompson is also gone since she is graduating.
As of now, Syracuse would still have junior wing Shy Hawkins, sophomore wing Jasmyn Cooper and junior forward Aurora Almón back on the team. Presumably at the three, Hawkins and Cooper could handle the minutes there. In multi-guard lineups, Sophie Burrows is also an option at small forward, as she was this past season.
That said, expect Syracuse to aim to bring in an additional forward who can ideally play big minutes next to Uche Izoje or provide some extra optionality at the wing.
With Fitzgerald’s departure, Syracuse can fill up to four more scholarship spots on the 2026-27 roster.
We’ll continue to update you on the latest offseason news for the Orange as it comes up.
