Syracuse men’s basketball: Forward Woody Newton enters transfer portal

The transfer portal is growing day by day as the offseason progresses, and that includes Syracuse Orange players looking for a new destination. Freshman forward Woody Newton became the latest Orange player to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon.

Newton emerged as a potential key bench player for Syracuse early in the season, averaging 7.5 points on 54.5% shooting over 15 minutes in the four game stretch between the Niagara, Rider, Rutgers, and Boston College games. His involvement in the rotation heavily dropped off after Syracuse’s program pause after the Buffalo game. Newton didn’t play more than seven minutes in a game after the new year, only appearing in five games in 2021.

Fans were excited for Newton after he showcased a nice aggressiveness at the rim early in the season as well as a decent three-point shot. However he didn’t get the chances to battle back into the rotation. As time passed he got overtaken by Robert Braswell as the favored wing off the bench.

Newton is now the fourth player this season from Syracuse to enter the transfer portal with John Bol Ajak, Braswell, and Kadary Richmond (recently reported to committing to Seton Hall). The loss of Braswell and Newton on the wings was recently somewhat mitigated with the addition of Villanova transfer Cole Swider, but the Orange may need more player in the frontcourt with the status of Quincy Guerrier, Alan Griffin, and Marek Dolezaj still in question for the 2021-22 season.