Syracuse center Frank Anselem enters transfer portal

Frank Anselem, a sophomore center who saw increased minutes late in the season, has entered the transfer portal, according to Verbal Commits. He served as the backup center to Jesse Edwards early in the year and split time with Bourama Sidibe after Edwards suffered a season-ending wrist fracture on Feb. 8.

“I will forever be grateful to have been a part of this historic program,” Anselem said on Twitter. “However, things have to end for something to start anew.”

In Anselem’s second season with the Orange, he averaged 2.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game — playing double-digit minutes in all of Syracuse’s games after Edwards’ injury, including at least 23 in six of them. His first-career start, on Feb. 12 against Virginia Tech, featured a career-high 36 minutes and 15 rebounds, and he started six games overall.

“He’s not going to score a lot, but he sets good screens,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said after the loss to the Hokies. “He moves without the ball. And his defense was good and he rebounded the ball. That’s what he has to do, and he did a tremendous job there.”

But two weeks later, in a loss to Duke, Boeheim said that Anselem “isn’t ready” — a comment made after Anselem kept creeping up in the 2-3 zone and allowed open dunks for the Blue Devils. “Frank started out at Virginia Tech and was tremendous,” Boeheim said, but he added that “simple basic things that we need him to do.” Sidibe started the Orange’s final game of the regular season against Miami, as well as their two ACC Tournament games, but Anselem still played 23 or more minutes in all three.

He scored a season-high nine points in the opening round of the conference tournament, pairing a 4-of-7 line with 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks to nearly notch his first double-double, and he added six points against Duke the next day as SU dealt with thinned depth due to injuries and Buddy Boeheim’s suspension.

Boeheim said entering the season that Anselem has “improved the most out of anyone” because of an increased aggressiveness, and he added after SU’s scrimmage against Pace that he’s a “completely different player” than he was during his freshman year. Anselem only played in four games during the 2020-21 campaign, totaling a season-high nine minutes against Rider and Boston College while scoring all six of his points against the Broncs. As a sophomore, he scored at least six points seven times.

He’s the first player from Syracuse’s 2021-22 roster to enter the transfer portal, one year after the Orange lost five — John Bol Ajak, Woody Newton, Kadary Richmond, Quincy Guerrier and Robert Braswell — to the portal while Alan Griffin declared for the NBA draft.

The Orange’s season ended on March 10 with a loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. They faced the Blue Devils without Buddy, suspended by the conference due to a punch he threw in the tournament’s second round, yet the Orange still led Duke by as many as seven in the second half and kept the game within one possession until the game’s final two minutes.

After recovering from his wrist injury, Edwards will return to the Orange next season and plans to talk with the SU coaching staff about staying in Syracuse longer during the offseason for workouts, his father David and brother Kai told The Daily Orange. And now, the depth behind him at center will look different with Anselem’s name in the portal.