Next year’s Syracuse-Duke game should be an interesting one...
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In a decision which certainly broke the hearts of some, former Syracuse Orange men’s basketball forward Maliq Brown announced he was transferring to the Duke Blue Devils for the 2024-25 season. It’s the second straight year where a Syracuse starter has transferred to an ACC school.
Brown — who averaged 9.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 69.8% from the field — announced his commitment to the Blue Devils on Saturday. He played two years for the Orange and transformed into an ACC All-Defensive team player whose versatility and growth shined this past season under first-year head coach Adrian Autry.
Unfortunately for Syracuse fans, Brown will now join forces with a Blue Devils team expected to be one of the best in college basketball next season.
BREAKING: Duke has landed Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown, he told @TiptonEdits
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) April 20, 2024
Brown averaged 9.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg and shot 37% from 3 this past season pic.twitter.com/vda22MDUOY
After committing to Syracuse as a three-star recruit from the class of 2022, Brown played mostly in a reserve role during former coach Jim Boeheim’s last season at the helm in 2022-23. Brown began this past year as the sixth man before injuries to the frontcourt propelled him as the Orange’s new small-ball five.
He started 18 of Syracuse’s 32 games in 2023-24 and finished top-five on the Orange in rebounds (first), field goal percentage (first), steals (first), blocks (tied for second), minutes )(third), assists (fourth) and points (fifth) as a sophomore.
Brown committed to Duke nearly three weeks after entering the transfer portal on April 1, one of five Syracuse players from the 2023-24 roster to do so. He emerged as a top-target for the Blue Devils, and the warning signs were clearly there once Mark Mitchell and several other notable players from Duke entered the transfer portal. Brown is currently ranked No. 59 on On3’s top players in the transfer portal this year.
To help fill in the gap left behind by Brown’s departure, Autry landed transfer portal commitments from former Delaware wing Jyare Davis and former Colorado center Eddie Lampkin Jr. In addition to Davis and Lampkin Jr., All-American Donnie Freeman, Chance Westry and Chris Bell round out the current forward depth chart.
Brown becomes the fourth Syracuse player to commit to a new program for next season, joining Justin Taylor (James Madison), Peter Carey (Siena) and Benny Williams (UCF). Quadir Copeland is currently still in the transfer portal.
