Syracuse men’s basketball: Symir Torrence would be first to play for both SU and Marquette

While we still don’t know how things turn out for Marquette transfer Symir Torrence now that he’s a member of the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team, he’ll own a specific distinction the second he first hits the floor.

Looking through the extensive records at OrangeHoops (thanks to Ray, as always), Torrence would actually be the first player to suit up for both SU and Marquette — regardless of which he played for first.

Obviously there are no greater rules that really guide why a transfer happens historically. Still, it’s interesting that there haven’t been more players to jump from the Golden Eagles to the Orange(men) over the years. Given the number of years Syracuse was in a better spot conference-wise and the amount of time both programs spend attracting talent at or near the Canadian border... just seems like something that would’ve happened before.

In fact, transfers by Syracuse players to or from Big East schools is not that common at all either — which came to mind when it was reported by Mike McAllister that there appears to be mutual interest between SU and Villanova transfer (and former Orange recruiting target) Cole Swider.

It ends up that no one has ever played for both ‘Cuse and Villanova either. Same goes for Georgetown, UConn, Xavier and Butler.

The exceptions in terms of current Big East programs:

• Creighton (Loren James and Kaleb Joseph transferred to)
• DePaul (Charles Gelatt transferred to)
• Providence (Paschal Chukwu transferred from, Brycen Goodine transferred to)
• Seton Hall (Tauren Thompson transferred to)
• St. John’s (John Small transferred to)

The main reasons for the scarcity of transfers are the lack of player movement in the past, plus rules around intra-conference transfers that existed for quite some time (so transfers weren’t leaving Big East schools for SU or vice versa for decades). Of the transfers that did happen, four of the seven were in the last decade (when Syracuse only spent a few years in the Big East).

Like many of these “did you know?”-type pieces, I’ll admit this ultimately doesn’t matter. But is it sort of interesting? Maybe.