One thought is for certain: the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball will be completely different in 2026-27. Less than 24 hours removed from the Orange’s regular season finale, the changes already started off the court.
Coach Adrian Autry is officially out, along with GM Alex Kline and (reportedly) the rest of the coaching staff. A lot of the focus for fans will be on who takes over as head of the program, then who else follows suit in the GM and assistant coaching roles.
But, what about the players?
Who should Syracuse look to retain from the 2025-26 team, and what does that mean for the rest of the offseason.
Arguably, the most important name who would be a fantastic building block has to be Nate Kingz.
Now, his situation is a bit different since he is technically is out of eligibility. That said, he recently seemed to show interest in returning to the team beyond 2025-26. Kingz also told reporters he, his agent and Kline helped prep an eligibility waiver with the NCAA (to regain the year he spent at a community college). If he can be back, Kingz suddenly becomes a foundational piece and on paper easily the best returning two-way player.
Kingz in 2025-26 was tasked with guarding the toughest perimeter assignment, while stepping in some games as the lead scorer. Look no further than the SMU game on Tuesday, when he had 25 points (tied for most among all players in the contest).
Of the other non first-year players, Tyler Betsey feels like another keeper if he is in the right role.
Betsey’s offense ran hot and cold throughout the year, but in the end, he finished with career-highs in three-point efficiency (40.7%, up 8% from his first season at Cincinnati) and volume (4.0 attempts in 18 minutes per game). His ability to shoot from the forward position is so valuable in today’s game.
Looking ahead, he could be the next “sixth starter” where he comes off the bench, but can start against some opponents and close against others. He can’t be the top-three guy on offense in any given lineup or be expected to create on-the-ball, but likewise, his two-way game would be valuable similar to Kingz.
Sticking with the frontcourt, the biggest of question marks is what happens with Donnie Freeman.
There’s a case for and against retaining him in 2026-27.
The former is quite simple: a new coach unlocks his skill sets better than what Adrian Autry could manage. Considering he was All-ACC honorable mention despite regression in efficiency and (again) missing time with injury, imagine if he did take the next step forward in his career.
Looking to the summer, it also appears Freeman isn’t on the draft radar anymore, potentially closing that possibility down.
But, there are some legitimate concerns. Freeman has flashed defensive promise, but remains pretty inconsistent. Also, his offensive game can be too “jumper happy.” He can get hot from mid-range and he does get to the foul line at a good rate, but he only converted 30% of his threes and took around a third of his total shots a game from there.
There’s also the risk (though we assume the best) he misses time with injury. Through two years, Freeman was out for 28 of Syracuse’s 65 games (over 40%). This is easily *the decision where honestly, it could go either way of him staying or going and whether he progresses or remains what he currently is.
Similar to Freeman is Naithan George, who was up and down in his first year at Syracuse. George was 5th in the ACC in assists and 10th in both steals and free throw percentage. His numbers were very similar to his 24-25 season at Georgia Tech, but Orange fans expected more from the experienced point guard.
Will a new coach appreciate his experience or is that a spot where they want their own “quarterback”? And does George’s status impact Akir Souare who has been with the point guard the last two seasons? Souare’s an athletic forward with a limted offensive game that might not fit the next offensive system.
Looking to the younger faces on the roster, Kiyan Anthony will obviously be another notable name to look at.
Anthony occasionally had his moments providing an offensive spark off the bench. When he wasn’t going, however, it got tough to get him on the court. He shot below 40% from the field, under 26% from three and made 63% of his free throws. On the other side, he was a frequent target for opponents to exploit when they had the ball.
There’s a world where another coach could unlock his offense better while also scheming up the right lineups where he has help defensively. It’s also important to consider he is just a freshman; his game can easily grow to levels far better than what happened this year.
One freshman who definitely should be back is Sadiq White Jr. Brings athleticism on offense to help make up for the lack of a jump shot, competes defensively and can guard multiple positions. Yeah, that’s someone the Orange could use going forward.
Luke Fennell and Aaron Womack — the former of whom played sparingly and the latter who redshirted this year — also deserve a shot to get more playing time. These are bigger guards who might not start, but could fill out the guard depth in 2026-27 and allow Syracuse to allocate its resources elsewhere during the offseason.
Who knows if Calvin Russell is back after his first season on the gridiron and Tiefeng Diawara was a late addition to the recruiting class and his size alone could appeal as bench depth.
Who do you think is worth keeping next year?
