All-Syracuse International Team

Twenty five international players have played basketball for the Syracuse Orange.  Clinton Goodwin, a 5’8” guard born to American missionaries in Calcutta was the first in line.  Chino Obokoh, a reserve center for the Orange last season, is the latest in the line of international players.

Rony Seikaly

Rony Seikaly is probably the greatest international player for the Orange.  The 6’10” center helped power the Orangemen to the championship game in 1987.  He was an outstanding shot blocker and rebounder, and by his senior year had developed into a strong offensive threat.

Two early All-Americans for the Orangemen were born overseas. John Barsha was born in Russia, while Joe Schwarzer was born in Austro-Hungary.  The two partnered to lead the Orangemen to the 1918 National Championship (as voted by the Helms Foundation).  Schwarzer was a 5’11” center, considered the best center in the East, and Barsha was an outstanding defensive guard.  Due to the evolution of the game, both would probably be too small for today’s game, but they were outstanding athletes in their own era.

If I were to create an All-International team for the Orange, I would start with Seikaly at center. That’s probably the easiest selection to make.

The team wouldn’t have a true power forward, but I would put Montreal’s Kris Joseph in that position.  Joseph was very adept at driving to the hoop, and liked playing near the basket. He would be undersized, but speedy.

Leo Rautins

Toronto’s Leo Rautins would be an excellent small forward.  Rautins was a triple-double threat, a gifted passer who preferred to play away from the basket, and would be a good fit at the three position.

Freshman phenom Tyler Ennis would be my starting point guard.  He would ensure we have a controlled offense, and would keep the turnovers to a minus. With Ennis and Rautins both on the court, there would be lots of opportunities for low post passes to Seikaly and Joseph.

The shooting guard position is the toughest spot to fill.  It comes down to sharp shooting Marius Janulis versus the versatile Kueth Duany.  Janulis was a sniper on the perimeter, and a great free throw shooter. He was not a strong defender, and was merely adequate handling the ball, but he sure could shoot.  Duany was a very good three point shooter; not in the same class a Janulis, but he could make the open three when defenses focused on other players on the court.  Duany’s benefit to the team is that he was long armed, and played very good zone defense, along with being a decent rebounder and ball handler.  I would likely choose to start Duany, and have Janulis come off the bench. Duany could of course also rotate to small forward.   Both played in the national championship game with Duany getting the edge with the championship win.

Fab Melo would be my top reserve center, and he would be a solid defensive replacement to spell Seikaly. There would be an offensive letdown with Melo on the court, but Melo was a good passer, and the team would not be hurt having him on the defensive end.

My eighth player would be Donte’ Greene.  Greene was a 6’11” three point shooting power forward. I wasn’t always crazy about his game particularly because he tended to care more about what was in his best interest as opposed to the team, but having a tall gifted athlete come off the bench who could hit the long ball is an invaluable asset on the team. 

My ninth player would be Baye Moussa Keita, who would provide some much needed energy off the bench to back up Seikaly, and to replace Melo if Melo was indifferent that night. Keita was very limited offensively, but he could play inspired defense, and get key rebounds.

The tenth, and final, player on my team would be Tom Huggins.  Huggins was a forward for the Orangemen in the early 1950s.  Huggins was a mature player having been a veteran of World War II; he would be 28 when he graduated from Syracuse.  Huggins was a solid rebounder and a tenacious defender, and his maturity would help with some of the younger guys.

Finally, the coach would be Marc Guley. Guley was born in Czechoslovakia, and coached the Orangemen from 1950-1962.  Guley’s career started out well as a coach, leading the Orangemen to the National Campus Championship in 1951, and to their first NCAA bid in 1957.  The team would also hit rock bottom after a steady decline in Guley’s last few years.  However, as the Orangemen have had no other head coaches born overseas, the job is his by default.

So we’re looking at a starting five, with really an eight man rotation, as follows:

• PG-Tyler Ennis, 
• SG-Kueth Duany, 
• SF-Leo Rautins, 
• PF-Kris Joseph
• C-Rony Seikaly.
• Bench: G-Marius Janulis, F-Donte’ Greene and C-Fab Melo

That team would be an NCAA bound team in this era, and possibly an elite eight team, and with some luck a Final Four. A strong power forward on the team would make me more confident.  The team could definitely play big with Rautins taking over the point for periods of time, Duany at the shooting guard, Greene and Joseph up front, and Seikaly down low (or put Seikaly at forward, Melo at center, and drop Joseph).

OrangeHoops Hall of Fame 2013

In 2007, OrangeHoops inducted its charter class into the OrangeHoops Hall of Fame: Dave Bing, Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas, Vic Hanson, and Pearl Washington. The next four years saw the addition of Billy Owens (2008), Billy Gabor (2009), Lawrence Moten (2010), Louis Orr (2011), Roosevelt Bouie (2011) and John Wallace (2012).  So the list now stands at 11. Another year has passed, and now it is time for the 2013 inductee.

I established my rules for the OrangeHoops Hall of Fame back in 2007 and you can catch up on them here. 2013 does have six new eligible candidates (using the fifteen year rule): Marius Janulis, Todd Burgan, LaSean Howard, Sam Spann, Erik Frazier and Jason Mallin. 

Burgan is by far the best of that bunch.  He was a classic Syracuse mid size forward, able to play the shooting guard, small forward and power forward positions.  He is currently the 17th leading scorer in Syracuse history; he was a decent scorer, rebounder, ball handler, perimeter shooter and defender. Not great at anything but good across the board.  Janulis was one of the best spot up three point shooters in Syracuse history, making about 40% of his attempts.  He was a pure shooter, but not a strong ball handler or defender.  

LaSean Howard was a reserve swingman for two seasons at Syracuse. Unhappy with his playing time, he transferred to Hampton University after his sophomore year, where he would be an average player.  Spann was a reserve forward for one season at Syracuse playing in only 8 games, and would transfer to Fairfield University after his freshman year.  Frazier and Mallin were both walk-ons.  Though Burgan was a talented player, I don't think he is at the top of the list for Hall of Fame consideration. 

I think this year’s viable top candidates come down to the following ten, listed chronologically: Lew Castle, Joe Schwarzer, Lew Andreas, Vinnie Cohen, Leo Rautins, Stephen Thompson, Rony Seikaly and John Wallace.

Castle was a two time All-American at Syracuse, and was captain and leading scorer of Syracuse’s only undefeated team, the 1913-1914 squad that went 12-0.

Schwarzer was a two time All-American, and was captain and leading scorer of the 1917-1918 squad that went 16-1 and was retroactively named the National Champions by the Helms Foundation.

Andreas coached Syracuse basketball for 27 seasons, including the 19-1 1925-1926 squad that was awarded the Helms Foundation National Championship. He had a career record of 358-134, and he was the Syracuse Athletic Director for 28 years (1937-1964).

Cohen was an All-American, the first Syracuse player to average 20+ points a game in a season, and led the team to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1956-1957.

Rautins was a terrific ball-handling forward with a nice shooting touch, solid rebounding and scoring skills. He is most well known for his game winning tip in basket to win the Big East Championship in triple overtime against Villanova in 1981.  Rautins also recorded two triple-doubles in Big East action.

Thompson was an explosive swingman, with incredible quickness and vertical leap, and excellent defensive skills. He was extremely adept at playing above the basket though he was only about 6'2". He teamed with Sherman Douglas to perfect the alley-oop basket.  Thompson was an extremely proficient scorer, despite the fact he was a terrible perimeter shooter.  

Seikaly was an All-American, a standout defensive player whose outstanding play in the 1987 NCAA tournament took Syracuse to the brink of its first tournament championship.

All are worthy players, and tough selections to make.  I designed my selection rules to make it tough; the Hall of Fame should be the 'best of the best', and I would rather have a line of worthy players outside the Hall of Fame, than cheapen it by having lessor players included.

I have got to go with Rony Seikaly for the 2013 selection.  Seikaly came to Syracuse as a raw talent with very little basketball skills other than a tomahawk dunk.  Despite that, Jim Boeheim took advantage of his athletic ability and size and immediately inserted him into the starting lineup his freshman year.  Seikaly would develop into a solid defensive threat his sophomore season, but it was not until midway through his junior season that he started to become a solid all around center.

It was likely Seikaly's improved play, more than anything else, that helped propel Syracuse's run through the NCAA tournament in 1987, allowing Syracuse to advance to the National Championship game.  Seikaly would take on Florida's fame Duane Schintzius in the NCAA tournament.  Seikaly would shut down Schintzius, while scoring 33 points himself.

Seikaly would lead the team in scoring his senior year, no small feat on a team loaded with talent in Sherman Douglas, Derrick Coleman and Stephen Thompson.  He would earn 2nd Team Big East honors his junior and senior seasons, and at the time his career ended, he was the 4th leading scorer in Syracuse history and the 2nd leading rebounder.  He would be the 9th pick of the 1988 NBA draft, and would have a solid NBA career.   He would finish his Syracuse career as arguably the greatest center Syracuse ever had.

Congratulations to Rony Seikaly.