Ok, that headline might be a little misleading. But if you’re on Syracuse Twitter, you probably saw that Eddie Lampkin is in the transfer portal.
Wait what?
The Colorado transfer came to Syracuse with just about one thing certain. He’d be closing out his college career with the Orange and playing his final year of eligibility in the 3-1-5.
So how the heck is Lampkin in the transfer portal? Well, it’s not the simple answer that it seems. Lampkin doesn’t actually have any more eligibility.
Well until we hear more from Lampkin, the only possible reason that he could come back for another year would be is if he is granted another year of eligibility from the NCAA. Where would this could from? Syracuse.com says that the most likely option would be an appeal to get his first year back, where he only played in 10 games at TCU.
That probably won’t work. But in today’s landscape, where it seems like everyone plays for just about forever, who knows. But for fun, let’s imagine a world where Lampkin is granted another year and comes back to the Orange.
Should that happen, Syracuse may just be a bonafide ACC contender. Lampkin was one of, if not the, most consistent players for the Orange this season. 11.5 points per game and 9.6 rebounds mean that Lampkin basically had a double-double guaranteed every game.
Now, what is SU missing the most for this next season? A center! With recent transfer additions, Naithan George from Georgia Tech will likely be running the one, with JJ Starling at the two, Sadiq White at the three and Donnie Freeman at the four. SU has depth at the five with William Kyle, but no true starter.
Now imagine if Eddie Lampkin was that five! All of those players, plus Nate Kingz and Kiyan Anthony off the bench sure seems like a tournament team.
Is this a far-fetched dream? Yes. But one can hope.
