Syracuse's center group went a major facelift in the offseason, with three centers (William Patterson, Peter Carey, Mounir Hima) all entering the transfer portal.
The Orange in turn plucked Eddie Lampkin Jr. from the portal, and also added Euro center Peter Majstorovic to the mix to join with returning big man Naheem McLeod.
Like a couple other players new to the Syracuse program, Lampkin played for two other schools before transferring to the Orange. The big man spent three seasons with TCU, then last year with Colorado, starting 87 times in the last three seasons.
Lampkin has proven to be a solid offensive player in his time in college, averaging 8.2 points in the last three seasons and 10.6 per game last campaign. Lampkin also showed a significant improvement as a passer last season, handing out more assists (82) than in the three preceding seasons combined (55), and even put some of those skills on display in the first Syracuse exhibition game.
He is also an effective rebounder on both ends of the floor, posting an offensive rebounding rate of at least 11.8 and a total rebounding rate of at least 15.2 in each of his four seasons. Lampkin’s relative lack of athleticism, however, creates one area of concern, as he does not offer much rim protection for his size, as evidenced by him swatting just five shots in 1,029 minutes of play last season.
McLeod returns to health after missing just over half of last season with a foot injury. The former Florida State Seminole started each of the 14 games he played in last season and was a defensive force, as expected, blocking 27 shots while playing just over 14 minutes per game. Coach Adrian Autry protected McLeod in the first exhibition game, giving him just over five minutes of run in the game, all after the break.
A limited player on offense, McLeod showed an improving free throw stroke last season, making 71.4 percent of his attempts from the line. While it was a small sample, the big man had shot 45.6 percent from the stripe over the previous two seasons and the improvement is valuable, as McLeod had the highest free throw rate on the team as a result of being targeted as a poor shooter by opponents.
McLeod did use his height to handle his own on the glass, particularly as an offensive rebounder. McLeod had a 15.8 offensive rebounding rate while also boosting his defensive rebounding rate to a personal-best 16.3.
A late addition to the Syracuse recruiting class, the Serbian-born Majstorovic spent the last three seasons playing professionally in France.
Majstorovic showed the makings of an all-around game in that time, with his scoring and rebounding ahead of his other abilities, including posting seven double-doubles for Lyon-Villeurbanne U-21.
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