Syracuse women’s basketball: team needs the Orange must still address

In exchange, the Orange landed portal commitments from two players — former SMU guard Tyi Skinner and former Oregon forward Sarah Rambus. They join a roster that includes returning star center Uche Izoje, wing Shy Hawkins, guards Angelica Velez and Olivia Schmitt, forward Keira Scott, and guard recruit Madison Howard.

After all that turnover, Syracuse can still add on six or seven more scholarship players.

So, where does that leave the Orange going forward, and who else should FLJ look to add to the team for 2026-27?

The current depth chart — in alphabetical order based on last name — currently looks like this:

• Guards: Madison Howard, Olivia Schmitt, Tyi Skinner, Angelica Velez
• Forwards: Shy Hawkins, Keira Scott, Sarah Rambus
• Centers: Uche Izoje

The biggest unknown, which could determine who else gets added, is Dominique Darius. She started all 30 games for the Orange essentially as the main playmaker/passer next to a taller guard scorer in Laila Phelia, who is also departing.

This matters because FLJ did bring in Skinner, an experienced guard with high-minute totals and offensive productivity (including All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors just two seasons ago). But, she’s currently listed at 5-foot-5. If Darius (who is 5-10) comes back, Syracuse will certainly have a dynamic, veteran backcourt.

Skinner is a career 34% three-point shooter on six attempts per game and has averaged 14.3 points per game over 129 career games. Darius led the Orange in assists and finished in the top three in scoring and steals per game last year.

Combined, that’s a lot of productivity, but considering both guards are on the smaller side, Syracuse would really need a bigger forward out there. If not, that puts a lot of pressure on Izoje to cover more ground defensively.

There’s currently no further update outside of knowing Darius and the program were seeking to get here a fifth year. If Skinner is seen as more of a replacement for Darius, then Syracuse needs to get another microwave scorer at the two and a two-way forward to play the three.

To be clear, Syracuse could currently cobble together minutes at backup point, mainly with Olivia Schmitt, who had her moments in 2025-26. But the Orange still have to add more scoring pop on the perimeter.

Given Rambus’ career so far, the hope right now is for her to be the veteran backup five behind Izoje. If the latter gets into foul trouble, the former can eat up minutes there next to Keira Scott most likely. There’s a chance she starts alongside Izoje against bigger ACC frontcourts. Considering Hawkins started over half of the Orange’s games last year, entered the portal, and then returned, maybe she was convinced she’ll get the start at the three to give ‘Cuse size there.

All that said, the biggest questions fans are going to be left asking until more news breaks is 1) what the starting backcourt ultimately looks like, 2) how does that affect the rest of the roster, and 3) who starts alongside Izoje in the frontcourt? Assuming the backcourt is set with Skinner and Darius, that still leaves some uncertainty at the three and four, unless the plan is to start Hawkins and Rambus there, then fill out the rest of the roster behind them.

Expect the additions to ramp back up soon. We’ll update you as the roster for 2026-27 continues to get finalized.

Here’s an update: Syracuse has added forward Destiny Robinson to the 2026 class