Top 50 recruits Shayeann Day-Wilson, Latasha Lattimore decommit from Syracuse women’s basketball

Shayeann Day-Wilson & Latasha Lattimore

Shayeann Day-Wilson and Latasha Lattimore are teammates from Crestwood Prep in Canada who recently signed their National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Syracuse University.Courtsight/Josh Scott

Syracuse, N.Y. — Shayeann Day-Wilson and Latasha Lattimore, teammates from Royal Crown Academy in Canada, have decommitted from the Syracuse women’s basketball program.

Both players will enter the transfer portal, according to Patrick Shaw, director of basketball operations at Royal Academy. He wouldn’t specify why Day-Wilson and Lattimore opted not to attend Syracuse.

Their decision comes two days after the resignation of former Syracuse women’s basketball coach Quentin Hillsman amid an external investigation into accusations of bullying and inappropriate behavior.

Vonn Read, who served as associate head coach under Hillsman since 2013, was announced as the acting head coach for the 2021-22 season on Wednesday.

Lattimore, a 6-foot-4 forward, confirmed her decision to part ways from the program Wednesday evening in a post on Instagram.

“I’ve had a long time to pray and think this over,” Lattimore wrote. “I thank Syracuse University and their fans for everything... Please respect my decision!”

Lattimore is ranked No. 38 in the Class of 2021 and the No. 6 forward in the country. As a junior for Crestwood Prep, she averaged 17.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and two blocks per game.

Day-Wilson, a 5-foot-5 point guard, is the No. 41 recruit in the Class of 2021. While she’s considered the No. 9 at her position, she’s considered Canada’s top point guard. She averaged 13.2 points, 5.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds as a junior for Crestwood Prep.

Day-Wilson will represent Canada’s U19 women’s national team in the 2021 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, which begins on Saturday in Debrecen, Hungary.

Both players gave a verbal pledge to join the Orange on May 17, 2020. They signed their national letter of intents to join the program on Nov. 11.

As two of the most highly-recruited players in North America — both with more than 100 scholarship offers each — Lattimore and Day-Wilson said in an interview with Syracuse.com last year they were sold on Syracuse because of Hillsman’s transparency when it came to their basketball potential.

Hillsman had a reputation of successfully securing top-rated recruiting classes during his tenure with Syracuse. Last season, he welcomed the highest ranked recruit in program history in 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso, who transferred to South Carolina during the offseason.

Class of 2022 guard Nicole Sanfilippo decommitted from the program in May, citing that Syracuse’s massive roster turnover — that resulted in 12 players opting to enter the NCAA’s transfer portal — played a “small factor” in her decision.

Day-Wilson and Lattimore were integral pieces of SU’s incoming freshman class, ranked No. 11 in the country by ESPN. The program’s rookie class is currently comprised of Nyah Wilson, a guard from Texas and Julianna Walker, a high-scoring guard from Washington.

Contact Mike Curtis anytime: Email | Twitter

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