Syracuse native Symir Torrence comes home and will play basketball for Orange

Syracuse, NY – Symir Torrence is coming home.

The Syracuse native, who played two seasons at Marquette, will transfer to Syracuse University, where he will have three remaining qualifying seasons.

Torrence, a playmaker, entered his name in the transfer portal on March 16. The Orange had recruited him from Vermont Academy, when Torrence had prepared for it after initially playing ball in high school at Syracuse Academy of Science. He’s a strong physical guard who can defend and rebound from this position.

Torrence spoke with SU coach Jim Boeheim on Tuesday morning and made a commitment to the Orange. He had heard recent rumors that Kadary Richmond could be transferred from Syracuse. On Monday morning, Richmond entered the transfer portal.

“I didn’t know if it was true,” Torrence said. “I just waited to see. I didn’t want to assume anything. I was just praying.

Torrence said he texted Buddy Boeheim and expressed interest in Syracuse if Richmond leaves. He was an Albany City Rocks EYBL teammate of Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard.

“We were more than just teammates,” Torrence said. “We will always be like brothers. We text each other often. They are family to me. I played with them in AAU. I played against them in high school.

Torrence, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound point guard who was a four-star rookie out of preschool, will be eligible to play immediately once the NCAA finalizes a rule allowing one-time transfers without requiring them to be absent. . a season.

He said he heard of South Carolina, Wake Forest, Washington, South Florida, Albany, Siena and Massachusetts in the past two weeks. He preferred to play for a program, he said, where he had a previous relationship with the coaching staff.

He has played sparingly at Marquette this season. He averaged 13.1 minutes, shot .311 overall (19 of 61) and .139 from the 3-point line (5 of 36). The Golden Eagles finished 13-14 in 2020-21 and parted ways with head coach Steve Wojciechowski on March 19. On March 28, Shaka Smart was announced as Marquette’s new head coach. Torrence said Smart asked if he could reconsider returning to Marquette and scheduled a visit with him.

But Torrence had already decided he would quit school. Torrence described his situation in Marquette as “not the right solution”.

“I just didn’t make it to the games, to be honest. This is history, ”he said. “It was pretty depressing. I knew I was exiting the game, so I tried not to make any mistakes at all. It was just me who worried about whether I was releasing games. This is where my field goal percentage and my stat line went down. “

Torrence first spoke by phone Tuesday of Albany, where he had just finished a training session with Steve Dagostino; The Albany-based coach worked on Elijah Hughes in the spring and last summer as Hughes prepared for the NBA Draft.

“We do a little bit of everything,” Torrence said. “Working on my craft – handling the ball, mainly shooting, being more of a consistent shooter, going back to being the Symir who does open shots and can do tough shots. Just be more of myself, really.

Hart described Torrence as “a great defender” who “takes care of the ball”. His stats at Marquette, Hart said, don’t reflect the kind of player Torrence can be.

Torrence, 19, reclassified from the 2020 class to the 2019 class to join Marquette a year earlier.

“He’s played with Buddy and Joe before and was a huge part of those (EYBL) teams,” Hart said. “I think he can fill any role. He can score if necessary. He carried the Vermont Academy team, scored as 30 on Brewster. He can be that guy. He was a starter to start the year at Marquette, but they brought in DJ Carton (transfer from Ohio State), who is a high volume, high risk, high reward guy. This is what it was.

“Symir, although these numbers don’t reflect it, is a 3-point shooter that performs very well over time and space. Very well, actually. He’s going to be an incredible defender. He will be great in the zone because he has length and strength. He’s tough, strong. He’ll be good because he can get along with the people, which Syracuse needs, and he gets with the people under control. He’s more like a Villanova guard – he’ll come to a two-foot jump and pass.

Torrence said he was delighted to be coming home to play in the Carrier Dome. He has a younger brother, Syair, who is a first year catcher at the CBA. Because he had gone to college, Symir had never seen Syair play high school football in person.

SU coach Jim Boeheim has said on several occasions that the Orange will lose players in the coming weeks and gain other players. Torrence is the first player so far in 2021 that Syracuse has removed from the transfer portal.

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