Monday’s ACC Player Movement News - Syracuse Gets Bigger

Player movement is slowing down now that the portal has closed for this year, but there are still some chips to fall and in the ACC, it was Syracuse 1, Florida State 0 as 7-4 Naheem McLeod committed to Adrian Autrey’s program.

What does it mean?

Well it depends on what Autrey is planning. Certainly he’d be a good fit in the ol’ 2-3 where he could hang around the rim and challenge shots, but there’s no guarantee that Autrey keeps it (although it could still work with more talented players).

Whatever the scheme is, Syracuse needs size and he certainly brings it. He’s also bringing in a sold class with 7-0 William Patterson, who might be better than McLeod, 6-6 Chance Westry from Auburn and 6-4 local kid JJ Starling, who comes over from Notre Dame.

And next year is off to a good start as Donnie Freeman recently committed, joining Elijah Moore in the class of 2024.

As we mentioned, Clemson has also done well in the portal and are well-positioned for next season. How is everyone else doing?

Here’s a rundown from Charleston’s Post and Courier of how everyone’s roster building has gone to date. Big spoiler - they like what Clemson did.

We’re not sure the take on Syracuse is right. Losing Jesse Edwards is a big deal - but he’s always been foul prone - and Joe Girard, who is taking his 16.4 ppg to Clemson. He was solid at Syracuse but not great.

Fresh eyes could make the Orange much better than Jim Boeheim might have. You certainly can’t argue with his half-century of knowledge, but you also could pretty much predict what he would do. We’re not sure many people can predict what’s going to happen next year with the ‘Cuse.