Another potential option for Syracuse's open roster spots.
As you well know, the Syracuse Orange basketball program has several roster spots available given recent departures. On Friday, Columbia Lions graduate transfer Grant Mullins was on campus. Next up may be fellow grad transfer Spike Albrecht from the Michigan Wolverines.
Michigan grad transfer Spike Albrecht told ESPN that he's looking at Purdue, Wichita State, Indiana, Texas A&M, Syracuse, USC & Milwaukee.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) April 19, 2016
The 5-foot-11 point guard played in just nine games for Michigan this past year before calling it a season due to a recurring hip injury that's required surgery each of the last two offseasons. He told ESPN's Jeff Goodman back on April 1 that he'd be seeking a transfer for his fifth and final season since the Wolverines did not have a scholarship left to give.
Though Albrecht has dealt with his fair share of injuries, he also spent plenty of time at Michigan as a productive player, including a six-point performance against SU in the 2013 Final Four. He also pressed Louisville in that year's title game with a 17-point outburst.
Albrecht's best year -- and the one Syracuse would potentially be banking on repeating itself -- is the 2014-15 season. Then a junior, Spike averaged 32 minutes per game while scoring 7.5 per on just over 40-percent shooting. He's also a career 37-percent three-point shooter on 185 attempts. At the very least, Syracuse will lose its two most frequent three-point shooters from last season, in Trevor Cooney and Michigan Gbinije. Third on that list was Malachi Richardson. The would-be sophomore declared for the NBA Draft yesterday, though he did not hire an agent as of yet.
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Scout's Ben Sigel believes that there's mutual interest between Albrecht and SU, and the Indiana native will likely visit campus soon. The Orange have three scholarships to give and it's anyone's guess where those could go (if anywhere). Along with interested grad transfers such as Albrecht and Mullins, 2016 options like Taurean Thompson and recent offer Cheickna Dembele are on the table as well. There's also talk that 2017 option Hamidou Diallo could even reclassify for this upcoming class as well.
Plenty more to come on the SU recruiting/transfer front. We'll provide updates as they come in.
