How are Syracuse basketball transfers going in their new homes?

We’re now a little more than a third of the way through the college basketball season, and with conference play underway, it’s a great time to check in on five former Syracuse players who transferred after last season .

Maliq Brown decided to stay in the ACC after entering the transfer portal, joining Duke on April 20. The forward made the jump from a mid-tier ACC team to a top, nationally ranked ACC program. The move raised many questions about his role on a team like Duke, and much of the early outlook was somewhat negative. However, Maliq has done an impressive job adapting to his new role. Brown went from a consistent starter, logging 30 minutes per game at Syracuse, to 20 minutes per game as Duke’s sixth man. This reduction in playing time actually worked to his advantage, as Maliq doesn’t necessarily have the star power to sustain high-level play for extended periods of time. On the No. 4-ranked Duke team, he is not expected to contribute significantly on offense. His shot attempts per game went from 5.1 last season to 1.9 this season. Instead, Duke relies on his defensive abilities and Maliq thrives in that capacity. His defensive box plus/minus (DBPM) more than doubled to 8.7 (top-10 in the ACC), and his steals per game fell to just under 2 per game. Overall, Maliq excels as a support and role player, becoming a dominant defender. The most striking evidence of his defensive impact is his Improved Defensive Rating (DRTG), which rose from 100 last season to an impressive 82.5 this season, which, like his DBPM, is in the top 10 of the ACC.

Taylor was one of the first players to announce his departure last season, entering the portal on March 18. Nearly a month later, he committed to JMU.

Taylor had a rather bumpy end to his tenure at SU, the most disappointing part of his game was his apparent inability to make 3-pointers. In his last 14 games with Syracuse, he went 2-15 from 3.

Since transferring to JMU, this problem has actually gotten worse.

In 14 games, Justin Taylor has yet to make a 3. Additionally, he hardly takes 3s anymore, having only attempted 4 this season so far.

Considering last season’s pace (88 3PA, 2.6 3PA/G), he should now be at around 33 attempts. Overall, all of his production stats are down. His Box Plus/Minus (BPM) is -7.0 (last season was -0.6), his True Shooting is down to 40.5% (last season was 45.0%), and his Effective field goal percentage (EFG%) is down 7.2 points to 35.7. %.

It seems like the fit may not be there. He’s not seeing the court as much as he was at SU, his minutes per game are down to 12.1, and without a drastic change mid-season, Taylor could potentially re-enter the portal.

Copeland was one of, if not the biggest, fan favorites last season, with his biggest moment clearly being the buzzer beater 3 to defeat Miami.

However, all season there seemed to be tension between Adrian Autry and Copeland, and it appears things boiled over with the early sacking of Benny Williams.

Copeland and Williams seemed to be quite close, and from that point on, it was likely that their relationship could no longer be saved. Copeland transferred to McNeese in early May.

He’s playing relatively well in his new role at McNeese. His minutes per game went from 22.4 to 18.6, but he is scoring at the same rate as last season, his rating per 40 minutes per game is 17.5, which is 0.3 more than last season. Its ORTG is up 3.2 points (109.5) and its DRTG is down 12.9 points (90), both positive developments.

It’s possible that, like Taylor, Quadir finds himself in the portal again, but for a different reason. Copeland left SU due to personnel turmoil and McNeese could be a buffer as he matures and gains more experience, as it’s pretty obvious he can contribute to at least a low-level P4 team or an intermediate upper level.

Last season was difficult for Benny Williams.

It started with a suspension for violating team rules and ended with a firing with a quarter left in the season. It was clear he didn’t get along with Autry.

Williams entered the portal on March 17 and joined UCF on April 14.

With this transfer, the senior forward returned home. The Branderton, Florida native appears to have found his footing in Central Florida again.

Williams is averaging 5.9 points per game over 17.5 minutes per game. His field goal completion percentage increased 7% to 47%, while his field goal attempts remained virtually unchanged.

Williams made a considerable jump in offensive contribution, his ORTG increased by 15.4 points to 106.5, and his True Shooting and EFG% increased by approximately 11.5 points to 51.3% and 49. 2% respectively. Benny Williams and UCF are certainly a team to watch as the season heats up.

As of now, they sit in 5th place in the Big 12 with a 9-2 record and are poised to open conference play.

Carey followed former Syracuse assistant coach and legend Gerry McNamara to Siena.

Since joining the MAAC team, Peter has noticed an increased workload. Partly because of the McNamara connection, but mostly because the MAAC game is probably more suited to Carey’s level of play.

Carey doesn’t have the skill level and many tools to succeed on a P4 team. He has the size but not the strength to be a successful center, and with his lack of shooting ability, that’s a recipe for disaster.

After rarely seeing the court at SU, Carey averaged 13.2 minutes per game and scored just over 4 points per game. He also shoots at a very efficient clip, 58.8%, and his true shooting is at 61.5%.

Careys’ stats per 40 possessions and per 100 possessions actually look pretty good. His ORTG jumped 29.4 points to 110.8 and his PER (Player Efficiency Rating) sits at 18.9, a sharp increase from his 3-flat PER last season.

Siena is 5-7 in McNamara’s first season, and it will be interesting to see Carey get more traction in a conference that better suits his level of play.

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