Now that GMac is HC, what does next year's squad look like?

[Orangezoo]

Need way more than just a big man. We need 3/4 top level ACC starters on our team. PG/SF/PF/C all need massive upgrades. Good thing we have money to spend. The trick for GMac is going to be able to recruit the talent we need against all the other top-level P4 schools with equal amounts of money. That will determine if he we will be successful here or not.

Right - we should be getting 60 pct of our starting lineup if not more from the portal. Kingz is the only existing Cuse guy I want back that I would pencil in to start. White and Anthony would heavily depend on where their games are at by end of summer if they both stayed.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Isn't Kingz agent Autry's son?

Yes. He also told the PS he was applying for a waiver and would like to come back (pre coaching change of course).

Throughout an ‘irregular upbringing,’ basketball is Nate Kingz’s escape

Nate Kingz could extend his college career through a waiver after a year in NAIA and JUCO. After growing up in foster care, basketball has always been Kingz’s escape

dailyorange.com

 

[richmondcuse03]

Nate Kingz

Nate Kingz is the son of Dorothy Signal of Salem, Oregon, and the grandson of the late Charles and Amelia (Madros) Nickoli of Nulato. He is a tribal member of the Nulato Tribe and a Doyon shareholder.

www.doyon.com

Also interesting - stumbled on this.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I hate to tell everyone, but the big freshman is not going to play. Reports are that he is not very good. Major project.

Reports from the dismissed staff? Their talent evaluation is a bit suspect, no?

 

[orangenauburn]

Donnie Freeman = Donte Greene

 

[hoopsupstate]

GMAC trusts Doty. At this point, I don't think anyone trusts Kiyan. Trust is huge.

I’m ok with Kiyan. He showed flashes of what he’s capable of. Look for a big sophomore jump. I think he might be our biggest surprise next year. I’m hoping at least. I think GMAC is exactly what Kiyan needs.

 

[Blanko97]

Bring Doty in, whatever that’s fine. We don’t need the other randoms

 

[shu 49]

I don't need to see any more of Souare.

I think he is a capable 6-7 min a game guy.

 

[shu 49]

Need Kiyan back. Bad look for Cuse if he left. Hopefully the game slows down for him and he can better use the skills he has.

White may make the Burgan soph leap. Athletic guy who needed a year. But he was as guilty as anyone of ball watching on rebounds rather than crashing or boxing out. Needs to improve effort.

Betsey gone unless he’s ok as 10 minute guy and more if he gets hot. He’s a one dimensional player that could only hit open threes. Can’t create his own shot or come off the screen. Poor defender, poor effort. Bad passer. Would rather use his roster spot for Folefac.

Souare needs to go. He’s a third string center/3rd string power forward type. We could do better.

Womack and Fennell. They can stay or go as long as it doesn’t cost us anything.

Freeman. One of the two hard ones. The guy is skilled but he is soft. How many times did he drive the lane and dunk? . Avoids contact. I just get vibes that if he was the fourth scoring option on a team like Duke or Kentucky, He would look much better and we would regret losing him.

George. He’s the other tough one. Only guy on the team you could rely on to shoot free throws, and seem to get fouled a lot toward the end of the year. Also had a nice pull-up jumper from mid range that became pretty reliable the second half of the year. However his turnovers were maddening, and did a poor job fighting through picks on D.

If Kingz comes back, he’s a keeper for sure, but would love to see him drive to the basket and go hard rather than always a jump stop and then not finish or kick out 1/2 the time. He needs to be more explosive, which I think he’s capable of..

If we kept that nucleus of the team together, and spent our money on a top notch seven footer, and two guard/combo guard that gets paid what JJ was getting paid, but earns his money every game, and added Doty and Folefac I would be content. I’m worried that White will not be able to replace Freeman‘s offense, and we don’t get a top-flight point guard that was better than George, if those two guys left.

I think 20 lbs or more on white and he could replace Donnie. Remember games when Donnie was hurt. White was showing inside stuff like baby hooks and tough defense. I think he can be a 12-15 point guy with a dabble three every other game type kid. He made a difference on defense for us and with AO who can further develop his inside game we will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[hoopsupstate]

I thinks it’s highly unlikely that both White and Freeman will be back. If Donnie returns, why would White want to come off the bench again. Our best defense this year was when White started and Freeman was injured. It was night and day difference. We competed with Houston and Kansas and beat Tennessee.

 

[shu 49]

We need Kingz and Freeman back - Freeman plays both ends of the court - don’t know where the criticism is coming from - we desperately need an upgrade at PG - George can make some nice lobs if your /C has a 42 inch vertical - outside of that he cannot penetrate and he’s physically week - we need a center obviously - we could use a SF that can get to the rim

I have to disagree with ya here. Donnie doesn’t come close to playing defense and his talents should inside game working to outside, not hanging on three point line.

 

[shu 49]

Reports from the dismissed staff? Their talent evaluation is a bit suspect, no?

Well let’s see what AO can do.

 

[shu 49]

I thinks it’s highly unlikely that both White and Freeman will be back. If Donnie returns, why would White want to come off the bench again. Our best defense this year was when White started and Freeman was injured. It was night and day difference. We competed with Houston and Kansas and beat Tennessee.

I could care less if Donnie returns. I want white back. Power forward with added muscle who defends and rebounds although could box out better but that goes for whole team really.

 

[Orangefan1]

I want gmac to have a clean start I honestly won’t feel bad if any of them leave

 

[Cusefan69]

Not sure what the team will look like but I want every dollar of our new Nil budget spent on whatever elite players that we can get. Everyone off our prior team is expendable besides perhaps Nate. If you want a culture guy or two for depth fine but let's see a whole new starting 5 with the new staff. This isn't participation trophies time. College hoops is basically pro hoops now with free agency and players being paid. If we have a good coach and staff, he should be able to get the free agents to play and win.

 

[Newhouser]

Delicate balance of new guys, keepers and MAAC guys. Gerry's job to determine who can play the style he wants.

Not a common case but a former MAAC guy had 30 subbing in for Cade Cunningham against the lakers last night. Talent can be found all over.

 

[kcsu]

Donnie isn't worth the money.

 

[VikesCuse84]

I think he is a capable 6-7 min a game guy.

I’d rather them play 7 guys like Boeheim used to keep our best 5 on the floor as often as possible. It’ll help the NIL stretch if you’re paying big money to a few truly elite guys, and allows for better continuity on the floor keeps guys in rhythm. Just my opinion. Not sure what Gerry will ultimately do I know they just had no bodies available which is why his starters played the whole game vs Duke.

 

[ezbeezy214]

What if Bryce James transfers? We should get him to attract Melo, LeBron and Adam W.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2026/03/what-syracuses-hiring-of-gerry-mcnamara-means-for-2026-27-roster-who-could-come-from-siena.html

 

[Hopkins16]

What if Bryce James transfers? We should get him to attract Melo, LeBron and Adam W.

Let’s get serious. We need to win games and get better and not babysit the children of hall of famers.

 

[Hopkins16]

I’m going into the 26-27 season with low expectations. It will be Gerry’s first season at the helm with a few transfers from a lower tier program, and a few holdovers who need development and growth in many areas.

There aren’t any remaining recruits out there who are difference makers so our only hope of putting together a competitive team will be finding a few gems from the portal.

Any success will be because of hardworking players buying into a system and a coach who can actually coach up.

 

[orangefog]

We need tough players. We need smart players. We've played soft and dumb for at least the last 3 years. Early this year, it looked like we finally had some toughness. But, that faded and we fell back in to being soft again. We need the right talent evaluators out there searching for players that fight on every possession. Sadiq, Kyle and Kingz are the only ones that seemed to do that this year.

 

[MamesJungro]

I’m not convinced he will run a slow tempo if he has more talent. One of the best things about going with GMac is we should be able to recruit a few players from the high end of the portal. An athletic big who can score and defend, and a couple of shooters would be a good start.

Not to be contrarian, but why would his recruiting be any different now than it was in when he was an assistant here for like 15 years.

 

[Jasoncuse]

I am trying to be positive, but all this talk about Siena players is crazy, yes they had a great 3 days and yes they caught Duke sleeping, Dukes players flat out said they didn’t respect Siena before the game . People fail to mention how Siena got curb stomped by a Indiana team that finished 10 in big ten and missed the tourney, nobody mentions that performance.

Fully agree.

I'm ok bringing 1 or 2 guys, maybe even a deep bench recruit, but I'm seeing talk about bringing 3+ and multiple recruits going on, not to mention the full staff. I think that's crazytown.