Syracuse Scholarship Counts and Redshirts

Matthew Moyer is currently struggling with a foot injury, and per reports, he will find out in a few weeks the status of that injury.  It is possible a redshirt could come up for him; hopefully, things work out the best for him.

Redshirting a player has become rather common place for Syracuse basketball.  The past six seasons have all had a player redshirt, and going back to 2006-2007, ever season but one has had a redshirt. That covers a full decade.  The last time no players redshirted was in 2009-2010.  In 2007-2008 there were two redshirts with Andy Rautins and Devin Brennan-McBride taking the year off; the same was true in 2008-2009 when Scoop Jardine and Wesley Johnson both redshirted.   Ironically from 2003 to 2006 there were no redshirts on the basketball team.  

You could make a pretty decent squad from the guys who redshirted the past decade.

Here’s a list of the number of scholarship players each season since 2002-2003 and the players who redshirted that year.  This includes guys who voluntarily redshirted a season and players who medically redshirted the full season.

2015-2016 10 including Pascal Chukwu redshirt

2014-2015 10 including DaJuan Coleman redshirt

2013-2014 12 including Chino Obokoh redshirt

2012-2013 10 including Michael Gbinije redshirt

2011-2012 12 including Trevor Cooney redshirt

2010-2011 11 including DaShonte Riley redshirt

2009-2010 10 no redshirts

2008-2009 11 including Scoop Jardine & Wesley Johnson redshirt

2007-2008 12 including Andy Rautins & Devin Brennan-McBride redshirt

2006-2007 12 including Arinze Onuaku redshirt

2005-2006 10 no redshirts

2004-2005 11 no redshirts

2003-2004 11 no redshirt

2002-2003 9 no redshirts

Melo Wins Third Gold

Carmelo Anthony won his third Gold medal at the Rio Olympics, representing the United States well.  He has participated in four Olympics, winning a Bronze medal in 2004, and a Gold medal in 2008, 2012 and 2016.  Following the game, Anthony was interviewed by NBC, with the following response:

"For this one reason right now… it was a special moment for me. Long time.

I know this is the end. This is the end for me. I committed to something [long pause].  I committed to this in ’04. I’ve seen the worst, and I’ve seen the best, and I stuck with it, we stuck with it, and I’m here today three gold medals later.  I’m excited for me but also for the other guys who never experienced anything like this.  

Despite everything that is going on right now in our country, we gotta be united and I’m glad I did what I did. I stepped up to the challenge. But this is what it is about, and representing my own country on the biggest stage you can be on…  America will be great again I believe that… we’ve got a lot of work to do but it’s one step at a time, man, and I’m glad we represented in the fashion that we did."

Congratulations to the entire Olympic team, and especially to Carmelo Anthony and coach Jim Boeheim, both who have earned their third Gold medals for Olympic basketball.

Memorial Day 2016

Five Syracuse University basketball players have died while in military service for the United States. On this Memorial Day, please take a moment to recognize them, along with all the other veterans who have passed away.

Wilmeth Sidat-Singh was a member of the Tuskegee Airman, and was killed in a training accident when his plane crashed into Lake Michigan in 1943.

Charles Taggart was a member of the US Navy serving aboard the USS Frederick C. Davis, and was killed when his ship was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on April 24, 1945. Taggart and 115 crew members perished.

Joe Minsavage was killed in World War II on June 19, 1943 when his ship was attacked and he was lost at sea.

Gene Berger was killed in 1961 during flight maneuvers. He was a Commander in the U.S. Navy and a Naval aviator, and his plane would crash into the Pacific.

Harry Martin was killed in 1923 when his plane crashed during takeoff at Kelley Field, Texas.  He was a Lieutenant and an Army Aviator.  Martin had served in the AEF in France in World War I.

Jim Boeheim: Quick Comments on YESNetwork

I stumbled across a couple of old interviews with Jim Boeheim on the YESNetwork (November 14, 2013).  These two videos are interesting to me, as they give some insight into Boeheim's perspective.

I think we all knew Boeheim really liked and respected Gerry McNamara, but I don't think I really knew how much.  The first video clip, particularly his last comments, really points it out.  Boeheim states that GMac is the toughest player he ever coached, the biggest overachiever, and the guy he would want in a foxhole with him.



I think most Syracuse fans have heard the Jim Boeheim story about hiring Rick Pitino.  I don't think I ever realized before that Boeheim didn't know Pitino at the time.

I always had a very high opinion of Chris Mullin as a player. Apparently, Boeheim does too.

Thank You Pearl

The Pearl

I don't think anyone can ever underestimate the importance of Dwayne 'Pearl' Washington to Syracuse basketball, and the outpouring of affection and remembrances from the community is testament to that.

The Pearl played basketball with a different style than those before him.  The younger fans today may be jaded by the performance of the numerous NBA players who patterned part of their game style after the Pearl, making some of the things he did more commonplace today.  But he was an original.

The Pearl was not the most athletic player on the court. He was not exceptionally fast, and he could not jump or leap very well.  He wasn't even a great perimeter shooter.  But he could do four things, routinely on the court:

1. Simply score.  He was able to drive to the hoop against anyone, and when he got to the basket he simply made the layup, or had a floater over a defender.  I'm not sure if he could even dunk the ball... not that it mattered.  And it did not matter who defended him; the Pearl made defenders look foolish. His triple fake against Georgetown's Gene Smith in the Big East tourney is well known.
2. Great passer.  The Pearl was the school's all time assist man when he left, despite playing only three years.  He had great court vision, was very good with wrap around passed and no look touch passes. 
3. Great teammate.  The Pearl could score, but he focused on making his teammates better.  The guys around him were better players because of him.  As fans we took for granted how much he surpressed his scoring ability. It became apparent how great a scorer he truly was when Raf Addison was hampered down the stretch of Pearl's last season, and the Pearl went on a tremendous scoring spree over the last 12 games or so, stepping up and doing the scoring now that the team's leading scorer (Raf) was unavailable.
4. Amazing Everyone.  Pearl was electric on the court.  Fans wanted to see him play, and they flocked to see him.  I'm sure opposing players had to be in awe at times; Jim Boeheim in his press conference earlier today admitted he caught himself at times watching the Pearl play, instead of focusing on coaching. He was mesmerizing.

Boeheim mentioned in his press conference earlier today how humble the Pearl was.  He was electrifying on the court, and you would have assumed that persona carried off the court.  But, for all accounts, that was just his basketball style. Off the court, Pearl was a good friend, teammate and humble.

My favorite memory of the Pearl?  I didn't have a lot of opportunities to go to Syracuse games when I was younger.  We used to go to one or two games a year.  My senior year in high school, my father and I went to see the Orangemen play Boston College on January 24, 1984.  It was a great game, with a lot of back and forth action.  It looked like the Orangemen were going to lose the game when BC's Martin Clark was fouled with a few seconds left on the clock and the Eagles down by one.  Clark made the first free throw to tie the game. He missed the second free throw; the ball ended up in the hands of the Pearl, who raced down the court, and just before mid court he launched a half court shot. Of course, as all Orange fans know, the ball swished through the hoop and the Orangemen won.   In true Pearl style, after Washington released the shot he kept running down the court and when the ball went through, and the crowd erupted, the Pearl kept running straight into the Syracuse locker room.  As if he knew he had made the shot the whole time.

Pearl, God bless you and your family.  

OrangeHoops Reaches 1/2 Million

My thanks to all the Syracuse basketball fans who have visited OrangeHoops.org over the years.  On March 30, 2016, the site had its 500,000th visitor.  

OrangeHoops was launched in March 2005 as an effort to share information that I had been gathering for years.  I was frustrated by the lack of information I could find on my beloved Orangemen, and though the internet has millions of records of information, it had surprisingly little on Syracuse basketball.  Especially for the details I was always curious about.

I hope you have enjoyed the site, and continue to visit it. It is a non-revenue venture, and one I hope to keep continuing. I am eager to see how long it takes for the second 1/2 million visitors to arrive. OrangeHoops.org is by no means a prolific site, with an average of  about 45,000 visitors a year, but I do hope they are all meaningful visits.  [Note that I didn't start tracking visitors until November 2005, so a few months of data is missing]

Again, my thanks to all the visitors.

Let's Go Orange!

Boeheim's Hall of Fame Speech

In honor of Syracuse's Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim, I wanted to share the video of his induction speech.  It is full of the sarcasm and wit that Syracuse fans have come to expect from the legendary coach.

Hard to believe that since his induction, Boeheim has reached two more Final Fours, bringing his current total to five.  

Let's go Orange!