Earlier in the week, I wrote about how Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has done incredibly well in the transfer market, nabbing stars like Wes Johnson, Michael Gbinije and Elijah Hughes.
On the flip side of this, it is rare that Boeheim ever lets true talent walk out the door. The list of players to exit during Boeheim’s tenure is long, so let’s just focus on the past 20 years (so we don’t need to think about hometown hero Matt Roe).
Easily the biggest one to get away in since 2000 was BJ Johnson. After two underwhelming years at SU, Johnson bolted for LaSalle and went on to average 19.1 points per game in his final two collegiate seasons.
He also developed an outside shot, shooting 36 percent from 3-point land with the Explorers. Johnson is currently working his way into the NBA. He has been back and forth between a few association teams and the G League.
Joining Johnson among players who have excelled post Syracuse is Tony Bland. He went on to average 16.1 points per game over two seasons with San Diego State.
Overall though, there have not been many who went on to wow in different uniforms. Mark Konency was a promising freshman who suddenly withdrew from school in November of 2001. He transferred to UCF, but never played there, eventually switching to a community college before finishing his college career with Lambuth University.
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James Thues left after two seasons and eventually became a full-time starter at Detroit Mercy. His teammate, DeShaun Williams, also left Syracuse following the 2002 season, and finished his career averaging 14.8 points and 3.0 assists for Iona.
Greg Davis averaged 2.3 points per game at North Carolina A&T.
Mike Jones was a top-50 recruit back in 2006, but only featured in 11 games for SU. Jones left due to lack of playing time and headed home to South Carolina. He was ruled academically ineligible and eventually landed at Indian Hills Community College.
Louie McCroskey had a solid year at Marist after leaving the program. DaShonte Riley went on to play meaningful minutes in three seasons with Eastern Michigan after one season at SU.
The transfers have really kicked up in recent years. Chino Obokoh and Ron Patterson lefter after 2016. Neither one lit the world on fire in their next stops at St. Bonaventure and IUPUI respectively. Kaleb Joseph departed after losing his starting job as a sophomore. He never matched his career-high 5.6 points per game in two years at Creighton.
Matthew Moyer came off the bench for two years at Vanderbilt (averaging 2.0 points and 2.2 rebounds) before transferring again to George Washington for the upcoming season. Taurean Thompson bolted for Seton Hall (causing a tampering scandal), and like Moyer, is looking for his third college team after landing back in the transfer portal.
Soon to be added to this list will be Howard Washington, Jalen Carey and Brycen Goodine. Obviously, they will all have a chance to prove Boeheim wrong for not doing more to keep them in CNY. However, initial reaction is that none of them will buck the trend.
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