Luke Wilson almost ended up at UCLA. Instead, the Appalachian State transfer landed at Syracuse after his agent urged him to slow down and weigh a few more options.
Wilson entered the transfer portal on March 31 and was close to committing to Mick Cronin and the Bruins. Then K.J.
Smith stepped in with a different plan. Smith, a former North Carolina player and the son of Kenny “The Jet” Smith, sent Wilson a new list of schools to explore and arranged meetings with four Power Five programs in about a week: Syracuse, Tennessee, Georgia and Louisville.
Wilson first spoke with Ben Lee before meeting with Syracuse coaches Gerry McNamara and Arinze Onuaku, along with the staffs at the other three schools. Three weeks after entering the portal, he had made his call.
“I chose G-Mac and his crew because (of) him and A.O. Those guys stuck out to me the most,” Wilson said of the Syracuse coaches.
“They want to win and they want to compete. That’s something I want to do too.”
McNamara’s pitch helped, but Onuaku’s presence carried real weight in the decision. Wilson saw a chance to learn from a former Syracuse big man who played at the college level and reached the NBA, and that mattered to him as he picked a new home. He also saw a player with a body type that looks familiar.
At 6-foot-10 and 255 pounds, Wilson has the kind of frame that invites comparisons to Onuaku, who was 6-foot-9 and 261 pounds during his Syracuse career. Wilson is expected to compete for the starting center job this season, and he liked the idea of being coached by someone who has been in that role before.
“That starting position is always cool but learning from him [Onuaku] and knowing he played at the highest level and him being here, knowing what it takes to get there and stay there too. That was big for me,” Wilson said.
Wilson arrives in Syracuse after two seasons at Appalachian State, where he made his name on the defensive side. Last season he was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league with 1.8 blocks per game. He also put up 10.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and closed the year with 12 double-doubles.
Now he faces ACC competition, and he wants his offense to grow with the jump in level. Wilson described himself as more of a “back to the basket guy” who can step out some, but he said he has been expanding that part of his game.
“I’ve been working on shooting a little bit more this year,” Wilson said.
That work has already shown up in Syracuse’s exhibition games. Wilson averaged 10 points and 7.3 rebounds in the Orange’s three tuneups, started the last two against Siena and Niagara, and played as the 11th man in the UConn exhibition. Gerry McNamara came away impressed.
“I thought Luke was terrific,” McNamara said after the UConn exhibition. “I thought Luke impacted the game, to be quite honest, the most with how he rebounded. He altered a few shots.”
Syracuse’s frontcourt has given him a challenge in practice, too. The Orange have a crowded group at the four with Sadiq White, Francis Folefac and Tasman Goodrick, who teammates say is the best rebounder on the team. In the middle, Wilson has been battling another different-look center in Abdramane Siby, a 7-foot player with a 7-foot-6 wingspan from Bamako, Mali.
“Me and Siby go at it every practice. It’s been good.
Me and him making each other better,” Wilson said. “Just two defensive guys going at it.”
That defensive identity is where Wilson expects to make his biggest mark. Syracuse has set its centers to play drop coverage on ball screens, a scheme Wilson said he’s comfortable with. He sees that as the clearest path to helping the Orange.
“A big impact on the defensive end,” Wilson said, “for sure.”
In Other News...
Louisville Fans Get More Bad News On Two Key Fronts
Louisvilles recruiting push took a hit when top-10 prospect Reese Alston chose LSU, leaving the Cardinals without a five-star addition in the 2027 class. It was another reminder that even when the basketball program is building momentum on the floor, the fight for elite talent keeps getting tougher, especially against a national brand that can close late.
The news did not stop there for Louisville fans, either. On the football side, the Cardinals will be without wide receiver Lawayne McCoy for Week 9 against Stanford because of injury, removing another option from the lineup as they prepare for a game that already carries plenty of importance. Taken together with a preseason basketball stretch that was unbeaten but still revealed issues in turnovers and perimeter shooting, it has been a rough few days of developments for a fan base looking for cleaner signs of progress. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville May Be Losing Ground In A Massive 5-Star Battle
DeMarcus Henrys impending decision has become one of the biggest recruiting storylines on Louisvilles radar, and the Cardinals remain firmly in the mix for a player who could change the outlook of the 2027 class. The five-star small forward is set to announce his commitment on Oct. 30, 2026, with Pat Kelseys program among four finalists alongside Kentucky, Arkansas and North Carolina.
The challenge for Louisville is that the race appears to be tilting elsewhere as the decision date nears. Recent reports and predictions have pointed to North Carolina as the likely landing spot, a development fueled by a Crystal Ball projection and a recruiting push that has reportedly included Michael Jordan, leaving the Cardinals in the spot no staff wants this late in a battle of this size. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Has A Chance To Fix One Problem Against Stanford
Stanfords reboot under a new head coach and Andrew Luck as general manager has come with the expected growing pains, and one of the clearest signs has been a defense that has too often surrendered chunk plays. That gives Louisville a chance to clean up one of its own lingering issues, because the Cardinals offensive line has been uneven all season and needs a steadier showing if the offense is going to settle in and stay on schedule.
The other side of the matchup offers Louisville a separate test, though, with Stanfords Micah Ford coming in hot and needing to be accounted for on every snap. If Louisville can keep Ford from dictating the game and find a more reliable push up front against a defense that has not been getting many sacks or tackles for loss, it could be the kind of afternoon where one problem starts to look a lot more fixable. [Read more 🡒]