On Wednesday, top recruiting analyst and reporter Mike McAllister of 247Sports logged a prediction for Syracuse basketball to land four-star transfer target Dakota Leffew.
The 6-foot-5, 185-pound Leffew, a Mount St. Mary’s senior combo guard who can suit up at both point guard and shooting guard, took a visit to the ‘Cuse not too long ago. He has the Orange in his top six, along with Villanova, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Georgia and Xavier.
Per various media reports, Leffew has also recently visited Georgia, South Carolina and Villanova. The buzz I’m seeing from chatter on social media is that he could announce a decision soon. Stay tuned.
McAllister is as plugged-in as they come when it pertains to Syracuse Orange sports and recruiting, so his logging a prediction in the direction of the ‘Cuse for Leffew, a native of Hampton, Ga., is an encouraging sign.
When I wrote this article on Wednesday, I didn’t see any additional projections from analysts in Leffew’s recruitment on the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com or the On3 Web site.
As a senior in the 2023-24 season for Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (“MAAC”) member Mount St. Mary’s, Leffew averaged 17.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while connecting on 43.0 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.5 percent from the charity stripe.
His head coach at Mount St. Mary’s, Dan Engelstad, was recently hired as an assistant coach with the ‘Cuse.
Leffew, who will have one term of collegiate eligibility left, is rated as a four-star transfer this offseason by 247Sports, the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking and On3. He’s listed at No. 114 overall and No. 17 at shooting guard in national transfer rankings from 247Sports.
The transfer portal opened on March 18 and will run for 45 days. So far, at least six players from the Orange’s 2023-24 roster have hit the portal, and sophomore point guard Judah Mintz is headed to the 2024 NBA Draft.
Conversely, the ‘Cuse coaching staff has landed at least three commitments out of the portal this offseason. On Wednesday, Hofstra junior point guard Jaquan Carlos, a four-star transfer prospect, said on Instagram that he was pledging to Syracuse basketball.
Earlier this month, the Orange secured commitments from two other four-star transfers, and they are Delaware senior forward Jyáre Davis and Colorado senior center Eddie Lampkin Jr.
Based on roster departures and arrivals ahead of the 2024-25 season, I believe that Syracuse basketball coaches still have two open scholarships available for the next term. Let’s see what transpires with Leffew in the near future.
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