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Syracuse Orange women’s basketball standout Kamilla Cardoso has entered her name into the transfer portal, according to reports.
BREAKING: Kamilla Cardoso — who won shares of the #ACCwbb Rookie and Defensive Player of the Year awards — is in the transfer portal and leaving Syracuse. 6-foot-7 native of Brazil averaged 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.5 blocks per-game. @TheNextHoops
— Mitchell Northam (@primetimeMitch) April 22, 2021
Cardoso, the highest-ranked recruit in program history (No. 5 overall), had a breakout freshman season in 2020-21. The Brazil native racked up multiple conference accolades, including ACC Freshman of the Year, Co-Defensive Player of the Year, All-Defensive Team, All-Freshman Team, and First Team All-ACC. She also earned three-straight ACC Freshman of the Week awards during the year (Jan. 26, Feb. 1, Feb. 8). Cardoso was named to the Lisa Leslie Center Award Watch List and the 2020 ACC Newcomer Watch List.
In 24 games, Cardoso averaged 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest. She led the ACC in blocked shots (65) and blocks per game (2.7) throughout the season and was ranked in the top-15 nationally in field goal percentage (12th), blocked shots per game (13th), and total blocks (14th).
Cardoso is the 12th Syracuse player to enter the portal, joining Emily Engstler, Kiara Lewis, Amaya Finklea-Guity, Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi, Digna Strautmane, Maud Huijbens, Khamya McNeal, Kiara Fisher, Taleah Washington, Faith Blackstone, and Lauren Fitzmaurice (did not participate in 2020-21 season).
This announcement comes days after Coach Quentin Hillsman addressed the media about the high number of Syracuse transfers.
“We’re in a good place and we’re not in a panic mode,” Hillsman explained. “What’s happening right now is this portal across the country is becoming this thing where if you have nobody in the portal, then your program’s fantastic. If you got people in the portal, then you’re in trouble. We’re not in that state.”
Do you think the Orange are in panic mode? Yes, the team has players coming in but none are anywhere near Cardoso’s talent and potential level. This is a big blow for Syracuse. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how ‘Cuse was going to be alright despite the transfer numbers. Now, all Orange fans (self included) may need to re-evaluate that stance.