I was perusing Raoul's blogs on outgoing and incoming transfers (he does a superb job) and it showed me that there was a fair amount of turnover this year (four out, three in).
But what really caught my attention was that all four outgoing transfers were international recruits, two of whom from France.
Syracuse has gotten a lot of plaudits for going overseas in it's recruiting but that does not mean the retention challenge the staff faces is any better. Who knows, expectation and acclimation issues may be even more stringent and/or daunting.
Here are the outgoing and the incoming:
- Chelayne Bailey, 5'6" Jr. Guard, Pickering Ontario. (Grad Transfer to W. Michigan)
- Marie-Paule Foppossi, 6'1" Redshirt Freshman Forward from Strausbourg, France. (Transfer to Rhode Island)
- Kadiatou Sissoko, 6'2" Freshman Guard from Paris. (Transfer to Minnesota)
- Veronika Vorackova, 5'9" Freshman Shooting Guard from Ceske' Budejovice, Czech Republic (also transferred to Rhode Island).
And here are the three incoming transfers, all of whom are grad transfers so they can play immediately and give Coach Q one year only, which may be the intent:
- Brooke Alexander, 6' Redshirt Junior Guard from Frisco, Texas (transfer from UT Arlington)
- Elemy Colome, 5'7" Reshirt Junior Buard from Lawerence, MA (transfer from Rhode Island...aha! Is there a reciprocality understanding here?)
- Whisper Fisher, 6'2" Forward from Owings Mills, MD (transfer from Radford)
(Candidate for best transfer's name)
BTW, 'Cuse still has a lot of success with international players:
- Point Guard Tiana Mangakahia from Australia is superb; aand,
- Forward Digna Strautman from Latvia is a constant presence for the 'Cuse.
Still, the amount has dropped from seven to three.