Syracuse might have added its final player from this year’s transfer portal, bringing in forward Tyler Betsey from the Cincinnati Bearcats. Once Betsey’s commitment is official, he’ll be the 12th player on Syracuse’s roster next season.
Betsey, who is 6′ 8 and will be a sophomore next season, was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. The former Bearcat was ranked as the 47th-best player in the 2024 class, not far behind his new teammate Donnie Freeman, who was ranked 13th.
In his first and only season with Cincinnati, Betsey played 11.1 minutes per game, averaging 3.3 points and 1.5 rebounds per contest. While he didn’t convert a high amount of three-pointers last season, making just 32% of his attempts from deep, 81 of his 112 shots came from beyond the arc, providing Syracuse with more of the spacing it was missing on offense last season.
Betsey is the sixth player the Orange have brought in from the portal this offseason, and the latest after Syracuse picked up Montana State guard Bryce Zephir a few weeks ago. At 6′ 8, Betsey is the type of athletic, lengthy defender that the Orange have targeted in the portal this year. He should have plenty of time to develop if he stays at SU long-term, considering he has three years of eligibility, even if he’ll be lower on the depth chart to start the year.
It remains to be seen if Betsey will be the last new addition to a Syracuse roster looking to bounce back from a historically bad season last year. If he does get minutes, he should provide three-point shooting and defensive versatility, two qualities that the Orange were desperately lacking in last season.
