Jeff has covered Massachusetts Minutemen basketball for The Maroon and White and The Daily Hampshire Gazette. He has also written for The Daily Orange. Jeff is an Amherst, Massachusetts native, and graduated from Syracuse University in 2006. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyirvine.
Syracuse’s younger players have a lot to work on[/caption]Last weekend’s close game against Hampton revealed the Syracuse men’s basketball team has a long way to go.
Midnight Madness a few weeks away, and the Syracuse men’s basketball team will kick off its exhibition slate against Carleton in just over a month. After a couple of rough weeks for Syracuse football, let’s consider what we have to look forward to in the upcoming basketball season.
No one knows exactly what to expect for next season’s Syracuse men’s basketball team. The Orange returns just two starters and must replace its top two scorers and rebounders.
What’s a Syracuse fan to do? Besides get excited for the upcoming football season, there are two options. The one you prefer says a lot about you as a fan.
With the verbal commitment of 4-star combo guard Frank Howard, Syracuse is out of scholarships for the 2015-2016 basketball season. Howard, the fourth top-70 recruit to commit to the Orange, would be a nice way to cap off the 2015 class.
Next year’s Syracuse men’s basketball team has big shoes to fill. The departing quartet of CJ Fair, Tyler Ennis, Jerami Grant and Baye Moussa Keita played 58 percent of the team’s minutes and scored 63 percent of its points last season.
The 2013-2014 Syracuse men’s basketball season was full of extremes. There were the school-record 25 straight wins and No. 1 ranking to start the season.
I’m not talking about Trevor Cooney finding his shooting stroke (although that would help more than anything). I’m talking about giving the ball to Rakeem Christmas.
Following Syracuse’s narrow escapes over Pittsburgh and North Carolina State last week, a new narrative has emerged to describe the Orange’s best start in school history. SU has been lucky. The Orange shouldn’t be undefeated. Perhaps Florida is the nation’s best team.