What to Expect in 2010-2011?

The 2010-2011 season is almost upon us, and as is the life in collegiate basketball, the churn of the team continues. Last season was a magical ride, that ultimately ended too early, but had the Orange running at the top echelon of collegiate hoops for the bulk of the competitive season.

Last season was a surprise, and many factors came together to make the team one of the strongest in Syracuse basketball history.

1) The emergence of Wes Johnson as a top tier NCAA basketball player. Coach Jim Boeheim was telling everyone how good Johnson was in practice in 2009-2010, and how good he thought he would be. Yet no one wanted to believe the Hall of Fame coach, despite Boeheim having a long history of understating how good the new players were. Johnson ended up being better than I believe Boeheim even believed he could be.

2) The re-emergence of the shutdown zone defense, something that was not seen operating in its full beauty since the 2002-2003 season. The improvement in the zone defense itself should not have been a surprise as the change in personnel alone signaled an improvement would occur in the zone. Eric Devendorf never pretended to play defense, and Paul Harris never understood the nuances of playing zone defense. Jonny Flynn, as talented as he is, was more suited for man-to-man defense, and undersized for the top of the key in the zone defense. Those three were switched out for a 6’4” Brandon Triche at the top of the key, 6’5” Andy Rautins who was a master of zone defense, and 6’7” Wes Johnson whose natural athleticism and understanding of the game allowed him to fill that back end of the zone well. Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku were both a year older and more mature, and the extra year of playing in the Boeheim zone only benefited them. So we knew the zone would be better; I don’t we think could have anticipated that it would have been a phenomenal defense. That was the surprise.

3) A selfless team led by two selfless players in Rautins and Johnson. The 2009-2010 team made the extra pass, played a style of basketball the rewarded teammates for hustling down the court. The team moved the ball well around the perimeter and inside-out, resulting in some outstanding interior shooting by Jackson and Onuaku, and some excellent perimeter shooting by Rautins, Johnson, and Triche.

4) Experience, experience, experience. Syracuse did have three new starters in the squad in 2009-2010, but Rautins was a fifth year senior, and Johnson a fourth year junior, both with plenty of collegiate experience. Jackson was in this third year of the program, and Onuaku in this fifth. Scoop Jardine came off the bench as a third year sophomore. Kris Joseph was in his second season as a reserve with plenty of experience his freshman year, leaving only Brandon Triche as the inexperienced player. This team had a lot of experience, particularly in the correct positions.

5) An easier schedule in 2009-2010 than in 2008-2009. Now don’t get me wrong; last season was a very difficult season, and Syracuse was outstanding in playing that season. Last year they played 10 games versus top 25 teams, and the Orange went 8-2, including 6-0 versus top 10 teams. The only losses to top 25 teams occurred when Arinze Onuaku was no longer effectively in the squad. In 2008-2009, they played 15 games versus top 25 teams; that is an absurb number, and the Orange went a respectable 7-8. They played 4 games against top 5 teams, going 1-3.

Clearly, a lot of things went well for the Orange last season. Addition by subtraction. Maturation/improvement from all the key players; that doesn’t always happen. I team that bought into the ‘team concept’ and played outstanding team defense.

The coaching staff is back, and that constant had led to the ongoing success in the Boeheim era. The single concept of Jim Boeheim being there every year is absolutely vital for the program’s continued success. Keeping the key assistants in Mike Hopkins, Bernie Fine and Rob Murphy is also vital.

Syracuse is bringing in some top flight talent, which is a change from last year where there were no top 50 recruits in SU’s starting lineup. Syracuse does have some experience coming back, which again will help them out. Scoop Jardine will be a fourth year junior, and Rick Jackson a pure senior. Kris Joseph will be in his third year, and was third in minutes for the Orange last year. Many, including myself, are expecting Joseph to continue to elevate his game. Brandon Triche now has a year of collegiate basketball under his belt, and Mookie Jones is now in his third year with the program. James Southerland had a year of practicing against Onuaku and Johnson last year, so I am eager to see how he has improved.

The incoming freshman are highly touted. Fab Melo is being counted on for some valuable minutes at the center. Replacing Onuaku will be very difficult, and Melo is a different style player, and only a freshman. Freshman centers are often the least disciplined players in their first years, having to make the biggest adjustments, so it will be asking a lot for Melo to be star in year one. But he could be. Baye Moussa Keita, a lanky but athletic freshman, will back him up.

Syracuse will be a little bit smaller at the top of the key with Jardine (6’2”) replacing Rautins (6’5”); but Jardine is not inexperienced at the zone. Freshman Dion Waiters, at 6’4”, should be a nice piece of the zone at the top, if he understands the concept.

The loss of Onuaku in the back of the zone will hurt a lot. Arinze took up a lot of space horizontally, and had tremendous strength. Rick Jackson will likely play some center this year, and has a similar build, but that removes size from Jackson’s former position. Melo, at 7’, would definitely fill up space, but he will have a lot to learn. Joseph at 6’7” should be a good replacement for Johnson. Sophomore James Sutherland and freshman CJ Fair, both at 6’8”, should be able to provide some wingspan on the back of that zone.

If the returning players from last year can convince the new players to buy into the concept that won so many games last year, and some of the players continue to develop, 2010-2011 can be another exciting year.

2010 OrangeHoops Hall of Fame Selection

In 2007, OrangeHoops inducted its charter class into the OrangeHoops Hall of Fame: Dave Bing, Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas, Vic Hanson, and Pearl Washington. In 2008 Billy Owens was added to that list, and in 2009 Billy Gabor. So the list now stands at 8. Another year has passed, and now it is time for the 2010 inductee.

I won’t bother you with all the rules for eligibility (you can catch up on them here). 2010 does have six new eligible candidates (using the fifteen year rule): Michael Lloyd, Lawrence Moten, Luke Jackson, Elimu Nelson, Derrick Johnson and Melvin Tuten. Moten is a viable candidate from this list, and in fact, a very strong candidate. Jackson was a four year player / three year starter, but not noteworthy enough to warrant selection. Lloyd was a solid point guard for his one year on the Hill, but again nothing noteworthy. Nelson and Johnson were bench players, and Tuten a NFL prospect working out over the winter.

Other than Moten, I think this year’s viable top candidates come down to the following seven, listed chronologically: Lew Castle, Joe Schwarzer, Lew Andreas, Vinnie Cohen, Roosevelt Bouie, Louis Orr and Rony Seikaly.

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.Lew 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.

Bouie was a two time All-American, a standout defensive player who led Syracuse to a 100-18 record in his four years, and part of the famed Louie N’ Bouie tandom that rocketed Syracuse up the polls in the early Jim Boeheim years.

Orr was an All-American his senior year, a talented offensive player who played with intelligence on the court. He was the other half of the famed Louie N’ Bouie tandom.

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.

Moten is the Syracuse all-time leading scorer, and the Big East conference all-time leading scorer. He was three times selected to the All Big East first team.

Again, another tough year with some very worthy candidates. That is of course by design; the OrangeHoops Hall of Fame is supposed to be tough to get into. The 2010 selection is Lawrence Moten.

Moten was a swingman for Syracuse from 1992 through 1995. He was one of the most poised freshman in Syracuse basketball history, if not the most poised, showing the character and understanding of a fourth year senior the first day on the court.

Moten never seemed to force the action, he let the game come to him. And yet, at the end of the night, he would be the leading scorer. His style of play was very smooth on the court earning him the moniker ‘Poetry in Moten’.

Lawrence Moten was highly recognizable on the court. He wore his socks knee high (very old school), and had a silver dollar size bald spot on the side of his head (apparently stress related). Moten would earn recognition his freshman year, earning Big East Rookie of the Year accolades, beating out other notable freshman Donyell Marshall (UConn) and Michael Smith (Providence). Moten averaged 18.2 ppg that season.

Six times in his career he would score 30 or more points, including a career high 36 against Villanova. He would be named All Big East First team 3 times, and would finish his career as the All Time Leading Scorer at Syracuse and in the Big East Conference (Records that both still stand today).

Moten’s importance to the Syracuse program can not be stated simply by the awards and statistics his compiled. Syracuse went 85-36 during his career; nothing record breaking about that, though a very solid record. But Syracuse was under investigation from the NCAA for rules violations when Moten came to Syracuse, and that investigation chased a lot of recruits away. Moten, himself, was not highly rated, and chose to stay with the program, even though it would be banned from the NCAA tournament his sophomore year. Moten’s play and leadership kept the program solid and competitive in the extremely difficult Big East conference, and that kept the program relevant for other players to come to Syracuse. That importance cannot be undersold.

Moten would be drafted in the 2nd round by the Vancouver (now Memphis) Grizzlies in the 2005 NBA Draft. He would have three unremarkable seasons in the NBA before moving on to the ABA and International Basketball.

Congratulations to Lawrence Moten, the 2010 inductee into the OrangeHoops Hall of Fame.

The Dean of Interesting Syracuse Players

One of the things I have greatly enjoyed over the years with researching for the OrangeHoops site is uncovering some of the interesting lives that Syracuse basketball players have lived away from basketball. There are many atop my own personal list of ‘most interesting’, including the well known Jim Brown and Dave Bing, along with Jim Konstanty, Wilbur Crisp, Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, Warren Stevens, and Beal Banks, among others.

However, I think the most interesting life, particularly from the perspective of diversity, has to be that of Rick Dean. Dean was a physical player the Orangemen in the 1960s, teaming with Dave Bing, Jim Boeheim and George Hicker. The Orangemen were a short squad during that era, with Dean leading the way at 6’6”. Coach Fred Lewis had the Orangemen running a fast pace tempo, of which Dean was a part.

Dean’s basketball style alone would seem somewhat a conflict in stereotypes. He was a burly physical center, who often scored on layups, and as a result had a high field goal percentage. But he was also a very good free throw shooter, hitting 81% of his charity shots his junior year. He would be recognized as an Honorable Mention All American his senior year, along with a 2nd Team Academic All-American status.

Dean was drafted by both the NBA (San Francisco Warriors) and ABA (Denver Nuggets) upon graduating in 1967. He had however, been the top ROTC Cadet at Syracuse University, and chose instead to enlist in the Army Infantry and to serve in the Vietnam war.

Dean would be a platoon leader in the 101st Airborne Division, and would earn both a Silver Star and a Bronze Star for his actions in the war. He would remain in the military until 1970, rising to the rank of captain.

Dean then pursued a career in federal law enforcement, working for the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for three years. He would make a sharp career change from there, entering the education field as an administrator and basketball coach. He would work for the North Carolina public school systems for 20 years in this capacity, along the way earning his masters degree from Appalachian State in 1979.

So what does a gentleman who has been an All-American athlete, Vietnam war hero, Federal Agent, and high school administrator/coach do for an encore?

Upon retiring for the North Carolina school systems, Rick Dean became an ordained Methodist minister, and has been the head pastor at Higgins Memorial United Methodist Church in Burnsville, NC, ever since.

Some day I may come around to naming my top 5 or top 10 all-time favorite interesting Syracuse basketball players. However, I’ll ruin the suspense for #1, for I will have Rick Dean in that position.

Johnson and Rautins Taken in the 2010 NBA Draft

Congratulations to Wes Johnson and Andy Rautins, both who were chosen in the NBA Draft last evening. Johnson was the #4 overall pick, taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He will be joining former Syracuse player Jonny Flynn, taken with the sixth overall pick last year. Rautins was taken in the second round with the 38th pick overall. His father Leo was the 17th pick in the 1st round of the 1983 draft, taken by the Philadelphia 76’ers. Johnson and Rautins are the 53rd and 54th Syracuse players ever drafted.

Johnson is the highest Syracuse draft pick since Carmelo Anthony was taken with the 3rd overall pick in the 2003 draft. He joins an elite group of Syracuse players taken with one of the top 4 picks of the draft; the other four were Anthony (3rd, 2003), Dave Bing (2nd, 1966), Derrick Coleman (1st, 1990) and Billy Owens (3rd, 1991).

Rautins and Johnson are the first Syracuse duo drafted in the same year since Etan Thomas (12th pick) and Jason Hart (49th pick) were both taken in 2000. It is the highest two players have been taken out of Syracuse, since 1991 when Owens was taken #3 and LeRon Ellis taken at #22. Syracuse last had three players in a draft was in 1986, when the draft went more than two rounds. Pearl Washington was #13 (1st round), Raf Addison #39 (2nd round) and Wendell Alexis (#59, 3rd round).

Three is top number of players ever drafted out of Syracuse in one year. Besides 1986, it has happened twice before. In 1983 Leo Rautins went in the 1st round, Erich Santifer in the 3rd round and Tony Bruin in the 7th. And in 1981 Danny Schayes went in the 1st round, Eddie Moss in the 4th and Marty Headd in the 9th.

Andy Rautins is the fifth Syracuse player drafted by the New York Knicks. Gary Clark was first, as a 3rd round pick in 1957. Marty Headd (9th round), Howard Triche (6th round) and John Wallace (1st round, 18th overall pick) were the other players.

In the Jim Boeheim era (1977-present), there have been 34 players drafted by the NBA. 16 of those were first round picks, 10 were second round picks, and 8 were taken in the now defunct 3rd through 9th rounds.

On the purely trivial side, Wes Johnson is the second Johnson from Syracuse ever drafted in the NBA. Dave Johnson was taken in the 1st round in 1991. Andy Rautins is the also second Rautins taken from Syracuse; his uncle George Rautins was drafted in 1975 by the Buffalo Braves out of Niagara University.

Both Johnson and Rautins have a strong upside to their game. Johnson, who made tremendous improvements after arriving at Syracuse, should be very interesting to follow in the NBA. He’s a rare combination of a great athlete who has an outstanding perimeter shot. If he learns to put the ball on the floor, he could be down right scary for opposing defenders.

Rautins improved significantly each year in college and was an outstanding perimeter shooter last season, despite being targeted by opposing defenses. He is also an outstanding passer who has a great feel for the game. Rautins is not as athletic as other draft picks, and may lack some of the lateral quickness, but you know that he’ll keep working on improving in those areas. And that international experience will continue to help him. This is a kid who came to college highly unnoticed, blew out his knee, and yet still managed to find time to put on 25-30 lbs of muscle, improve his quickness, improve his all around game dramatically, while impressing enough NBA scouts to get drafted.

Academic Fit for the Big Ten

I still believe that Syracuse will have a tough time, long term, competing athletically in the Big Ten (if given the opportunity). However, Syracuse University can hold its own academically with the schools in that conference.

US News and World Report ranks Syracuse as #58 in the country. That puts Syracuse in the middle of the Big Ten, trailing Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State and Ohio State, but beating out Minnesota, Purdue, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and new addition Nebraska. And really, the difference between #53 and #58 is splitting hairs, so Syracuse would be on par with Ohio State, Minnesota and Purdue.

For a point of reference, here is how other potential Big Ten schools ranked:

• Notre Dame - #20
• Maryland - #53
• Pitt - #56
• Rutgers - #66
• UConn - #66
• Missouri - #102

So any notion that Syracuse does not fit academically with the Big 10 is a false notion. Of course, it is not all about academics. Nebraska is at #96, well below the bottom standard previously set by the Big Ten at 71. However, academics should not be a reason the Big Ten would not invite the Orange.

Texas surprised me by not accepting the offer to go to the Pac-10. That keeps the Big 12 intact for now. However, minus two schools, the Big 12 is going to want to grab two schools from somewhere; those schools are not going to be coming from the Big Ten or Pac-10, nor likely the SEC. That does not leave too many conferences left to raid. The Big East should be keeping an eye on some of its Western members, and working proactively to expand now.

As I mentioned the other day, expansion could occur simply by having some of the existing members step up to Division I with their football. Villanova is almost there (I-AA) anyhow, and that would give the Big East a football team in Philadelphia. I'd be willing to over a position in the Big East to another school with a Div I football program, and jettison Notre Dame (unless the Irish want to bring in their football program, which would never happen).

Big Ten Expansion - Should the Orange Go?

Should Syracuse go to the Big Ten, if invited?

I love the Big East, especially the basketball. There are great traditional rivalries in the league, and most teams are in the same time zone and relatively short travel distances.

I am not, however, a fan of the bloated Big East with its current 16 team configuration. I understand the need to do so in order to keep the football conference alive, but the conference is too big for basketball (and ironically, not big enough for football).

One of the nice things about the original Big East was that most of the schools were private institutions. This put all the schools on relatively equal footing financially. UConn was a state school, but never had its act together in the first decade, so it could not leverage its state funding. Pitt is a quasi-public school; it is not state run, but it is significantly state funded. The rest of the original schools were all Jesuit, with the exception of Syracuse which is now non-sectarian private.

Economics got in the way, the conference had to grow to keep football alive, and in the process added several state schools (West Virginia, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and South Florida) along with some additional Jesuit schools (Marquette, DePaul and Notre Dame).

The only reason I can see for Syracuse going to the Big Ten is revenue. That is a very big reason, and possibly the only reason that matters. More on that later.

I think going to the Big Ten would be a bad move for Syracuse for several reasons. It of course would ruin the regional rivalries, and schools like Georgetown, St. John’s and Villanova would definitely be left behind.

Recruiting Midwest athletes to play in Syracuse would be very tough. It is not impossible; Syracuse does recruit Ohio football players right now with some success, and recently has done well in Michigan with basketball players. But obviously, those are exceptions. It is much easier to convince a Philadelphia or New York kid to come to Syracuse, when he knows he’ll play a few games a year at home, than it is to convince a kid to come out of Indiana to the cold snowy Syracuse campus.

Ten out of the eleven Big Ten schools are state schools. The lone exception is Northwestern, which is historically the worst athletic program (for football and basketball in the Big Ten) and is last in revenue for the Big Ten. That is not a coincidence. State schools have access to tax dollars and have much deeper financial pockets to dig into to build the facilities and infrastructures to compete in the NCAA, not to mention the ability to pay coaches and staff.

With the exception of Northwestern, Big Ten schools have between 20,000 to 40,000 (Ohio State) undergraduate students. Syracuse has approximately 14,000. That leads to not only a larger on campus presence at games, but also a larger booster / alumni base. For every one alumni Syracuse would have, OSU would have three.

I think over the long haul, it would be very difficult for Syracuse to remain competitive in the Big Ten. Eventually the size differences of the institutions and revenue differences would come into play, along with the geographic anomalies, and Syracuse would be a mediocre program.

However, I think that if given the chance, Syracuse would jump to the Big Ten immediately. And, it would probably be the right decision. The only reason to make the move would be because of the money, but it’s a huge reason. And the discrepancy is significant. Per an article by ESPN’s Outside the Lines, the average Big Ten team makes $22 million per school in television revenue. The entire Big East television contract is around $35 million, and the schools that play football and basketball in the Big East make only $2.8 million annually from the conference television contract.

UConn is the top revenue school in the Big East with $54.7 million in 2007-2008 (per an article in the Orlando Sentinel). That would rank it only #10 in the Big Ten. The next three in line in the Big East are West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers (note that they are all state schools). Syracuse made $44.7 million in 2007-2008. Even if they were at the bottom of the Big Ten, then would make a 25%-30% increase in revenue.

The Big East, despite the revenue disparity, appears to be quite content to leave things as they currently are. There is no talk of expansion, nor of shaking things up. And I believe that any team in the Big East would be foolish not to jump to the Big Ten (I would think UConn and Rutgers would be the top two candidates based on the geographic markets they can bring in and being state schools). If the Big East is raided, its football conference is going to die. So status quo does not work.

The ACC would have been a much better fit for Syracuse, I believe, in terms of geography (Syracuse does recruit the northern area of the ACC conferences and Florida), and its basketball prominence would be a better fit for Syracuse. But that is water under the bridge.

Unfortunately, moving to the Big Ten does start a trend of downward competitiveness for Syracuse. The administration would never admit to it, but if you could guarantee an additional 30% revenue from athletics despite being a perennial loser, they would jump at it. From a business perspective, the only reason to win is to generate more revenue; if you can generate more revenue in a losing situation than business dictates you do it.

I think in 15 years you will look back and say it was a bad move for Syracuse to move to the Big Ten (if it happened). But you cannot worry about fifteen years from now.

I hope the Big East stays alive for football, and the Orange remain put, but I think if given the chance, they will go.

By the way, if ESPN’s sources have it right, Nebraska has accepted a big to join the Big Ten. This could start a domino affect of a group of Big 12 teams joining the Pac-10, the Big 12 falling apart, and teams scrambling everywhere. We’ll see.

Syracuse University has had its share of great players, though the Orangemen are probably more noted for the great point guards and forwards they have had. The Orangemen have had a few great centers along the way. Arinze Onuaku, who finished his career this past season, is clearly one of the top Syracuse centers ever. But how good was he in comparison? Who was the best?

That is a tough question, for a variety of reasons. The center position has changed more than any other position over the history of the game. In the early 1900s the center was the primary focal point of the offense. He did a majority of the ball handling and playmaking, along with often being the primary scorer. Centers in this era were often the best athlete on the court, and were about 5’11 to 6’2”.

In the late 1920s the game was evolving so that ‘big men’, players at 6’3”, were in the center position. This was a necessity as there was a jump ball after every made basket in the game. By the early 1930s there were teams who had centers whose primary purpose was to win the jump ball. Syracuse’s coach Lew Andreas, was a leading proponent of eliminating the jump ball after each basket, exactly for that reason, and by 1936 they had successfully eliminate that rule.

Height was still becoming a factor for centers, but the arrival of George Mikan in the 1940s, showed the dominance of a truly talented big man, and then the emergence of giants Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell in the 1950s, changed the center position forever. Russell introduced the concept of an absolute dominating defensive force, while Chamberlain brought the unstoppable offensive machine.

The center position probably has more players than any other position that has young men with very raw, if limited skills as freshman, who develop into outstanding players by their senior year. This is due to a combination of the tall centers having to wait for their bodies to catch up to their height, as well as finding it significantly different to be a giant among teens in high school, to being a giant among peers in college. So when you evaluate the greatness of a center at college, are you evaluating how he performed over his entire career, or how he performed his last year?

I am going to evaluate centers in the context of today’s center, with all due apologies to the disservice to Joe Schwarzer and Lew Castle, two outstanding All-Americans, who were clearly the best all around basketball players on their teams. Today they would have been great guards; and their style of play even in their era would have been more similar to today’s guard than center.

I am going to ignore forwards such as Derrick Coleman, Marty Byrnes and Chuck Richards, who each played center for a season out of necessity, but are far more remembered for their outstanding forward play.

So who is in my top 10? My apologies to the following fine centers who did not make that list: Andre Hawkins, Mookie Watkins, Conrad McRae, Royce Newell, and LeRon Ellis. Ed Sonderman was the first true athletic big center at Syracuse. He was 6’6”, weighed about 210 lbs, and played from 1935-1937. He was a strong offensive force, and is considered the top Syracuse big man of the first half century. But Sonderman did not make the top 10.

At #10 is Ed Miller (1950-1952). Miller came to Syracuse as a very awkward moving 6’8” teen, and he improved steadily over his three years on varsity. Miller would be second in scoring on the team his first two years, and lead the team in scoring his senior year. He helped Syracuse get to the NIT tournament in 1950 (very prestigious at the time), and win the National College Championship Tournament in 1951. Miller would be the first Syracuse player ever to score 40 points in a game.

#9 is Jon Cincebox (1957-1959). Cincebox was an outstanding rebounder in his era, averaging 14.6 rebounds a game, and setting the school record for total rebounds, that would not be broken for 30 years until Coleman came along. Cincebox sported a crew cut, was a master of the hook shot, and helped Syracuse to the Elite Eight his sophomore season.

At #8 is Otis Hill (1994-1997). Hill was a burly center who played a rugged inside game and was foul prone his entire career. As a freshman his offensive repertoire consisted of a dunk shot. His junior season, his strong play in the middle was helpful in Syracuse reaching the Final Four, and he was second in the team in scoring behind John Wallace, even though he played only 24 minutes a game. By his senior year he had developed a nice 10 foot jump shot, and was one of the primary offensive weapons on the team.

#7 is one Dave Bing’s teammates, Rick Dean (1965-1967). Otis Hill’s style was considered reminiscent of Dean, who has played 30 years earlier. Dean was 6’6”, 230 lbs, but could still run the court in Syracuse’s up style offense of the 1960s. Dean had a nice 10 foot jumper, was a very good free throw shooter (he shot 81% his junior season, and 76% his senior). Dean would average 18 ppg and 9 rebounds his senior year.

#6 is Arinze Onuaku (2006-2010). Onuaku was huge man in the middle at 6’9”, 255 lbs, and he sported a very muscular body. Onuaku played the middle of the zone defense extremely effectively; he was not a shot blocker, but was outstanding at maintaining his position, and keeping offensive players away from the hoop. He had a severe knee injury his sophomore season, and while he would rehabilitate the knee, he would continue to have leg issues in his career that limited his playing time. Offensively, Onuaku knew his limits, and stayed within his range, never more than 5 feet from the hoop. He was extremely effective in that short range, particularly with his hook shot, and is the most accurate shooter in Syracuse history at 64.8%. The two big knocks on Onuaku was that he was the worst free throw shooter in Syracuse history (by far), and he did not always hustle back down the court defensively.

#5 is Bill Smith (1969-1971). Smith was a tempormental giant at 6’11”, who was an outstanding rebounder and scorer (12.9 rpg, 20.7 ppg). He possessed a nice 10 foot jump shot, and was extremely effective near the hoop (59.6%). He holds the Syracuse single game scoring record with 47 points, against Lafayette. I’d rate Smith higher except that the level of competition for Syracuse in his era was less than today’s, and Syracuse was 9-16 and 12-12 his first two seasons.

#4 is Danny Schayes (1978-1981). Schayes was a very good college center who had the unfortunate situation of being a year behind Roosevelt Bouie. Coach Jim Boeheim tried Schayes at forward, in an effort to get him playing time earlier in his career, but it was not a position well suited for Schayes. He was probably the most fundamentally sound big man in Syracuse history. A decent ball handler, with excellent passing skills, outstanding free throw shooting (80.6% for his career), and solid from the floor (55.4%).

#3 is Etan Thomas (1997-2000). Thomas was probably the best defensive center in Syracuse history. He was a great shot blocker, and was named the Big East Defensive player of the year twice. He developed into a solid inside scorer, making 60% of his shots. He was a solid, but not great rebounder. Thomas was also a solid ball handler, not prone to turnovers, and finished his career as Syracuse’s all time shot blocker with 424 blocked shots.

The #1 and #2 picks are very tough. The candidates are Roosevelt Bouie and Rony Seikaly, and this gets back to how do you want to evaluate them. Bouie was much better over four years, Seikaly much better his senior year.

Ultimately, I go with Bouie as #2. If Etan Thomas was not the best defensive center at Syracuse, Roosevelt Bouie surely was. Part of the famous Louie N’ Bouie show, Bouie was a star his freshman year. He was a tremendous shot blocker, and could run the court well, which made him well suited for Syracuse’s fast break offense. Bouie made a high percentage of his field goal shots (he held the record until Onuaku broke it this year), and he was a very good rebounder. When he graduated from Syracuse he was the #2 all time scorer for Syracuse (long since surpassed). Bouie and Louis Orr brought the Syracuse basketball program to National attention and to initial prominence in the Big East.

#1 goes to Rony Seikaly. Seikaly came to Syracuse as a novice to basketball, having only recently learned the game after playing years of soccer in Greece. He would redshirt one year, and even in his freshman year he was overweight, and had only one shot, a tomahawk dunk, that he did not always make. He was extremely foul prone, fouling out of 1/3 of his games. But he improved over the years. He worked himself into great shape, learned to run up and down the court on both offensive and defense, and became a terrific shot blocker. His junior season, he started to play consistently with intensity and passion, and led Syracuse to the National Championship game against Indiana. Seikaly would develop a nice 10-15 foot jump shot his senior year, and would be a dominating offense force most of the season, despite sharing the ball with Stephen Thompson, Coleman and Sherman Douglas.

I’m not going to argue with anyone if they choose Bouie as #1. Perhaps tomorrow I will too.