When Tyler Betsey first entered the transfer portal after his freshman season he did so knowing he still had the option to return to Cincinnati. That’s partially why Betsey didn’t give Syracuse much consideration as a potential landing spot when the coaching staff initially contacted him. The Orange coaches refused to be denied, however. Betsey had something Adrian Autry coveted. The Syracuse staff remained on him for weeks.

As the relationship continued to develop Betsey started to seriously consider Syracuse as a potential transfer destination. His size, strength and versatility were a good fit for what Autry and his staff were looking for. With Donnie Freeman, Sadiq White and Nate Kingz in the fold, Syracuse just needed one more player at the forward position. Betsey’s 6-foot-8, 225 lb frame added depth to the forward room.

“The more and more the process went along the pieces starting falling,” Betsey said. “(With) people coming to Syracuse, the roster and how things fell, it just made sense for me to come.“

Former Syracuse assistant coach Gerry McNamara recruited Betsey when he was a high school player at St. Thomas More in Connecticut. There Betsey won back-to-back Gatorade Player of the Year awards in the state in 2023 and 2024 on his way to becoming a top-75 player in his class. Now at Syracuse he’s closer to home. He acknowledges the convenience of being able to take a short drive home and the ease of having family come to see his games, but it wasn’t significant in his decision.

“It wasn’t really a factor,” Betsey said of the distance. “It was more like a plus.”

Betsey played sparingly in his freshman season with the Bearcats. He appeared in 34 of 35 games. The opportunity for playing time is what led him to Syracuse. He’s versatile enough to play either forward position. His ability to stretch defenses with his shooting will help space the floor, but he insists there’s more to his game.

“First I bring versatility and shooting ability,” Betsey said. “I can also do a lot off the bounce. I think you guys will see more of that. Just getting to the rim or getting to the rim and kicking out.”

Players remarked on the intensity of the summer sessions and how hard they worked through it together. Betsey mentioned how the team has gelled in a short amount of time. He arrived in the second summer session along with Luke Fennell, who played in the FIBA Asia Cup for the Australian National Team. Betsey and Fennell are roommates. He mentioned how the two have grown close, along with Sadiq White, Donnie Freeman and Aaron Womack.

At ACC Media Day, Freeman highlighted Betsey as a player flying under the radar at Syracuse.

“A player that a lot of people are sleeping on is Tyler Betsey for us,” Freeman said. “I think he can be really good for us. He’s 6-8, 6-9. He’s strong, long arms, can defend, can shoot, really versatile. I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on him but he’ll wake up a lot of people.”

With the two sophomore forwards competing throughout the summer and early fall, Freeman has had to the chance to see Betsey up close.

“It means a lot to see he respects me as a player,” Betsey said. “It just shows what I did in the summer leading up to now, other people see it.”