Syracuse men’s basketball: Orange reportedly reach out to Arizona transfer center Emmanuel Stephen

Syracuse appears to have its eye on another transfer portal center

The Syracuse Orange are one of several schools who have reportedly reached out to Arizona transfer center Emmanuel Stephen, a four-star recruit who played sparingly during his lone season with the Wildcats. Travis Branham of 247Sports was the first to report.

Stephen suited up for just eight games with Arizona in his first collegiate season, averaging 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in under three minutes per game. The 7’ native of Lagos, Nigeria reportedly was originally expected to redshirt, but did not. He played 23 minutes in all of 2024-25, but this quote from Arizona HC Tommy Lloyd highlights why schools would be interested in the unproven big man

“I don’t even know if he knows what butterflies are,” Lloyd said then. “That guy just comes out and he’s going to play balls to the wall. That’s going to be his greatest strength, his activity and his energy.”

Stephen was ranked as a four-star prospect for the 2024 recruiting class by 247Sports and On3. He committed to Arizona over offers from Arizona State, Kansas, Seton Hall, LSU, Sam Houston State, Baylor and Michigan.

Here are some highlights back when Stephen was coming out of high school.

While he is largely unproven, Stephen’s potential is there for him to evolve into a center who can be a threat around the basket on one end and deter opponent shots on the other. The question for Syracuse or some other possible suitor: is he worth the gamble in the immediate, especially for any program with a (very) win-now mindset?

Syracuse so far has landed one center from the transfer portal in UCLA’s William Kyle III, but the spot remains a position of need for the Orange. Eddie Lampkin and Naheem McLeod, both of last year’s main centers in the rotation, are out of eligibility. Petar Majstorovic, another frontcourt piece from the rotation in 2024-25, most recently entered the transfer portal.

UNLV, Villanova, USC, Florida Atlantic and Virginia Tech are among the confirmed schools along with Syracuse that are showing interest in Stephen, according to 247Sports.