Our friends over at Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician are again running a fundraiser to help send youth in the Bronx to the Pinstripe Bowl to see the Orange play Minnesota. TNIAAM is working with the Bronx Knights youth football and cheerleading organization, trying to get enough funds to send 100 people to the game.
The details are on this page at TNIAAM
Thank you.
Syracuse has had a long and storied varsity basketball history going back to the 1900-1901 season. The leading scorer in the first season was Bill Lowe, a junior center out of Buffalo, New York.
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| Billy Gabor |
1. Billy Gabor, 1344 points 1943-1948
2. Ed Stickel, 1096 points 1946-1949
3. Royce Newell, 951 points 1946-1949
4. Jack Kiley, 790 points 1949-1950*
5. Vic Hanson, 762 points 1925-1927
Kiley was still active after the 1949-1950 season and would finish his career with 1,193 points, second most at that time. Hanson averaged 14.1 ppg in an era where that made him one of the most dominant players in the country, and it took Gabor roughly 20 years to break his school record.
If we move forward to the end of the 1979-1980 season, these are the top 5 all-time scorers:
1. Dave Bing 1,883 points 1964-1966
2. Roosevelt Bouie, 1,560 points 1977-1980
3. Dennis DuVal, 1,504 points 1972-1974
4T. Rudy Hackett, 1,496 points 1973-1975
4T. Dale Shackleford, 1,496 points 1976-1979
Eventually Sherman Douglas would break Bing's all-time record in 1989, and Derrick Coleman would break Douglas' record the following year in 1990. Lawrence Moten would set the all-time school record in 1995 with 2,334 points.
1. Lawrence Moten, 2,334 points, 1992-1995
2. Derrick Coleman, 2,143 points, 1987-1990
3. John Wallace, 2,119 points, 1993-1996
4. Gerry McNamara, 2,099 points, 2003-2006
5. Hakim Warrick, 2,073 points, 2002-2005
The Orange beat Northeastern last night 76-48. This improved Syracuse's all-time record against the Huskies to 9-0, tying Lafayette for third on the list of teams winless in games against the Orange.
The University of Toronto is atop the list with 16 games against the Orange from 1912 to 1963. The closest game in the series was 1923 when the Orange won 20-15 behind Ken Lavin's 8 points.
Hobart is second on the list with 11 games, from 1922 to 1944. The closest games were the first and last games of the series. The Orange beat Hobart 12-8 in 1922 behind forward George Noakes 8 points, in his first varsity game. The last game of the series saw the Orange win 55-51 behind Bill Dickie's career high 20 points.
As mentioned above, Northeastern is third with 9 games. The closest game in the series was in 2020 when the Orange won 62-56 behind Joe Girard's 21 points and Quincy Guerrier's 16 rebounds.
Tied for third on the list is Lafayette, whom the Orange played from 1957 to 2021. The first time the two teams met was the 1957 NCAA Tournament, with the Orange winning a tight game 75-71. Syracuse forward Gary Clark had an outstanding game with 34 points and 13 rebounds. Lafayette's Stuart Murray had 30 points in the loss.
There is a three way tie for fifth on the list with Albany, Alfred, and Siena all playing 8 games with no wins. The Orange played Alfred from 1917 to 1961, Albany from 1919 to 2021, and Siena from 1978 to 2007. The Orange scored a school record 144 points against Siena in 1979, winning 144-92. Eight Orange players scored in double figures that game.
Overall there are 148 teams that have played the Orange at least once and have failed to win a game. 83 of those teams have played only one game against Syracuse.
On this Veterans day, as I have done each year past, I would like to thank all those who have served our country, putting their lives on the line to do those tasks that need to be done. The Orange basketball team has had its share of veterans over the decades. And has been tradition at OrangeHoops, I would like to recognize those former basketball Orangemen who did serve. I acknowledge this is not a complete list; only those I know of (each year I add a few more). I imagine more Orangemen were in the service that I am omitting; if so, please post a recognition here! Also please feel free to recognize any other veterans in the comments.
There have been nine father and son basketball players for Syracuse University basketball. The most famous is undoubtedly the Boeheim family, with Jim and his two sons Buddy and Jimmy.
It is tough to rank which duo is the best when the father may have been an all-time great, and the son a walk-on. How do you compare that type of duo to a family where both the father and son played significantly? From my perspective, you have to factor in the level of talent of both the father and son.
Here is how I would rank the nine father/son combinations at Syracuse:
9. Steve and Stephen Keating. I bet many of you did not know that there is a father/son combo connection on this years team? Stephen Keating is a walk-on forward for the Orange; he has not played a game yet this early in this year. His father Steve was a walk-on for the 1991-92 season, scoring 2 points in the only game he played.
8. Ribs and Reaves Baysinger, Jr. This is the first father/son combo at Syracuse. Ribs played 11 games in 1921-22 scoring 6 points as a reserve guard/center. Reaves Jr was a backup center on the 1944-45 team playing in 2 games and failing to score. He was drafted by the Navy for World War II, and would enroll in the Naval Academy where he would be a star football player. Ribs was the freshman athletic director at Syracuse from 1927 to 1946 and would have overseen his son's activities as a freshman.
7. Dick and Bill Suprunowicz. Dick was a outstanding defensive guard/forward for three seasons from 1949 to 1951, scoring 526 points in 78 games. His son Bill was a reserve guard for three seasons, scoring 30 points in 20 games.
6. Adrian and Adrian Autry Jr. Adrian Sr. was the starting point guard for four seasons from 1991-1994, scoring 1538 points in 121 games along with 631 assists. Adrian Jr. was a walk-on for four seasons from 2016-2019 scoring 10 points in 29 games. Junior would play for his son, who was the assistant coach for the basketball team during that span.
5. Vinnie and Vinnie Cohen Jr. Vinnie Sr. was the best Syracuse basketball player of the 1950s, leading the team to the Elite 8 in 1957. Cohen scored 1337 points in 68 games, averaging 19.7 ppg. Vinnie Jr was a walk-on for two seasons 1991-1992, scoring 6 points in 9 games.
4. Billy and Chaz Owens. Billy was one of the all-time great Syracuse basketball players. He scored 1,840 points in 103 games over 3 seasons from 1989 to 1991. Owens averaged 17.9 ppg, as well as 8.8 rpg. His son Chaz was a walk-on for two seasons from 2021-2022 scoring 4 points in 8 games.
3. Jim and Jimmy Boeheim. Jim was a three year guard for Syracuse basketball from 1964-1966, scoring 745 points in 76 games. His son Jimmy played one season as a graduate transfer in 2021-22 scoring 453 points in 33 games. Jim Sr, of course, is also the legendary Hall of Fame coach of Syracuse.
2. Jim and Buddy Boeheim. Jim was mentioned above with his older son Jimmy. Buddy was a four year player for the Orange, and finished his career with 1,765 points in 121 games. Buddy was the second most prolific 3 point shooter in Syracuse history. Jim and Buddy would rank #1 on this list if we were to consider Jim's coaching career, but I chose to focus solely on the court action.
1. Leo and Andy Rautins. Leo was a three year starter from 1981 to 1983, and was consistently a triple double threat as a good passing forward. Leo scored 1,031 points in 85 games, along with 423 assists and 535 rebounds. His son Andy played for four seasons and was a terrific shooter, as well as a good passer. Andy scored 1,121 points in 127 games, along with 347 assists and 327 rebounds. Both Leo and Andy would have stints in the NBA.
Congratulations to Cole Swider and Buddy Boeheim for playing in their first NBA games this past week and officially becoming NBA players. Both sharpshooters were considered by most to be longshots to play in the NBA, but they have now entered the NBA register. They are the 57th and 58th Orange basketball players to play in the NBA.
Swider played at Syracuse one season after transferring from Villanova. He would lead the Orange in three point percentage at 41% making 81 of 197 attempts, while also leading the team in rebounding with 6.8 rpg. Swider would make his NBA debut with the Los Angeles Lakers on October 18th against the defending world champion Golden State Warriors. Swider played in the last 1.52 of the game, pulling down a rebound, getting an assist, and missing his only three point shot attempt.
Boeheim played at Syracuse for four seasons. He is the Orange's second all time three point shooter with 309 three point field goals. He also finished 13th all time in points scored with 1,765, averaging 14.6 ppg. He was named to the ACC's All Conference First Team his senior year. Boeheim would make his NBA debut with the Detroit Pistons on October 21st against the New York Knicks. Boeheim would play the last 57 seconds of the game failing to get any shots.
Congrats to the two young men on achieving the milestone of their first game, and wishing them continued success on pursuing their NBA dreams.
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 ten years saw the addition of Billy Owens (2008), Billy Gabor (2009), Lawrence Moten (2010), Louis Orr (2011), Roosevelt Bouie (2011) John Wallace (2012), Rony Seikaly (2013), Vinnie Cohen (2014), Etan Thomas (2015), Joe Schwarzer (2016), Lew Andreas (2017), Carmelo Anthony (2018), Stephen Thompson (2019), Hakim Warrick (2020), and Gerry McNamara (2021). So the list now stands at 20. Another year has passed, and now it is time for the 2022 inductee.
Here's the list of the active NCAA Men's basketball coaches, ranked by career wins:
Coach Jim Boeheim proclaimed before the season that this was the best three point shooting team he ever had. He wasn’t far off from that. The team hit 37.7% of its three point attempts, 5th best in school history. The team made 9.1 three point shots a game, the most in school history, breaking the record of 8.8 set in 2016-17.
This year’s team shot 73.7% from the free throw line, making
423 of 574 shots. The 73.7% is the 8th
best free throw shooting team since 1947-1948.
That is pretty elite company.
The team averaged only 17.4 free throw attempts per game.
That is the second lowest for the team since 1948. The record low was set the previous season
with 17.0 attempts per game.
The scoring margin for the team was 2.3 points per game.
That was the 103rd best out of 122 seasons for the Orange. Only 19 Syracuse squads have had a lower
point differential average.
The 77.4 points per game the Orange scored was the best for
the team since 2009-2010. The 75.1 ppg
the team allowed the opponents to score was the 15th worst all time,
and the most since 1988-89.
Despite some late game meltdowns, the 2021-2022 team was actually
very good at not turning over the ball.
They averaged 10.7 turnovers a game, the third best since 1984-85 when they
started keeping the team statistic. The
best was the 2013-2014 team. The team’s
assist to turnover ratio was 1.36, which is the 6th best in school
history; the 1987-88 team holds the record at 1.79. If you look at the Field Goal to Turnover Ratio,
which is an indicator of turnover rate based on pace of the game, the team
again ranked 5th with a ratio of 2.58. The 1988-1989 team leads the
way with a ratio of 3.00.
Individually, Cole Swider had the 8th best three
point shooting season at 41.1% making 81 of 197 attempts. Joe Girard wasn’t far
behind with 40.3%.
Jesse Edwards 2.8 blocks per game were the most since Fab
Melo averaged 2.9 in 2011-12.
Cole Swider’s 6.8 rebounds per game was the lowest for the
team leader since C.J. Fair’s 6.4 in 2013-2014.
Congratulations to Jimmy Boeheim for making First Team Academic
All American. Boeheim is only the second Orange men’s basketball player to earn
first team honors, and the 8th to receive any Academic All American recognition.
The ability for an Orange player to make Academic All American
is far rarer than making All American status
based on playing accomplishments.
Consider that sixteen Orange players have made the 1st, 2nd,
or 3rd team AP All American, whereas only eight have made the
Academic All American.
Rick Dean was the first Academic All American, earning 2nd
team status his senior year. Dean would
be a decorated Vietnam veteran, an FBI agent, and then a Methodist Minister.
George Hicker was a third team Academic All American in 1968.
Hicker became a successful real estate salesman and later the president of
Cardinal Industrial.
Bill Smith was a second team Academic All American in
1971. He would have a brief NBA career,
before a lengthy career at Smith Barney.
Dennis DuVal was a second team Academic All American in
1973. He would have a brief NBA career,
before moving on to a career as a police officer in Syracuse. His career would
culminate with him being the Syracuse Police Chief from 2001-2004.
Hal Cohen was a second team Academic All American in
1979. He continued onto medical school following
graduating from Syracuse, and would be a respected radiologist in the Syracuse
area for over three decades.
Danny Schayes was the only other first team Academic All
American for Syracuse, achieving that distinction in 1981. Schayes would play 18 seasons in the NBA for
seven different franchises.
Craig Forth is the only Orange player to earn the distinction
twice. The first time he was third team in 2004, and then he earned it again
the next year rising to the second team. Forth became a teacher, and then later
the principal of Mechanicsville High School in 2016.
Jimmy Boeheim graduated from Cornell in 2021, and came to
Syracuse as a graduate student for the 2021-2022 season. He would earn first
team Academic All American status.
One of the big questions for 2022-2023 season is where will the Syracuse offensive production come from. The Orange are losing three of its top four scorers with Buddy Boeheim, Cole Swider, and Jimmy Boeheim leaving. The team is likely to have to rely on some freshman to do some scoring, assuming no big acquisitions through the transfer portal. Is it realistic to expect freshmen to score?
Since the 2012-2013 season, there have been 31 scholarship
freshman on the men's basketball team. Nine were starters (29%), and eight scored 9+ a game (26%); six scored 10+ a game (19.4%). Those eight were:
Tyler Ennis 12.9 ppg
Chris McCullough 9.3 ppg
Malachi Richardson 13.4 ppg
Tyler Lydon 10.1 ppg
Tyus Battle 11.3 ppg
Taurean Thompson 9.3 ppg
Oshae Brissett 14.9 ppg
Joe Girard 12.4 ppg
While looking this up, probably the most similar situation
to 2022-2023 was the 2017-2018 season.
That team lost four of its top five scorers (John Gillon, Tyler Lydon, Andrew White, Taurean Thompson), and the two bench players were weak scorers (Frank Howard and Paschal Chukwu). Five incoming freshman (Matthew Moyer, Oshae Brissett, Marek Dolezaj, Bourama Sidibe, and Howard Washington).
That team struggled like heck to score, but played terrific grinding
defense. Moyer/Dolezaj and Brissett
started, and Brissett turned in one of the best freshman scoring seasons for
the Orange, but the team did lack scoring with only three guys who reliably
scored: Battle, Howard, and Brissett.
The only new transfer on that team was Geno Thorpe, and he didn't
contribute.
2022-2023 is not as barren as 2017-2018 in regards to
returning players. Two starters are
returning, not just one (Joe Girard and Jesse Edwards). There are four
returning bench players not just two, and of those Benny Williams does have a very high
upside. There is also no returning player
the caliber of Tyus Battle, so temper expectations with that in mind.
There have been 193 times a Syracuse basketball player has scored 30+ points in a game. This was accomplished by 63 different players.
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| Dave Bing |
Colgate is the most common victim to a 30 point outburst
from an Orange basketball player with 12. That really should not be a surprise
given they also are by far the most common opponent. Other teams with notable occurrences of 30
point efforts include: Pitt (10),
Cornell (9), Niagara (9), Canisius (7), UConn (7), LaSalle (7), Penn State (7),
and St. John’s (7). For those curious,
Georgetown is on the list twice with Billy Owens doing it in 1990 and Carmelo
Anthony in 2003.
The first player to do it was George Kirchgasser on November
7, 1904 against Jenner Prep. No player would accomplish it again until 1942
when Bob Shaddock scored 33 against Colgate.
The most common venue is the Orange home court where the
Orange have done it an even 100 times. Other
breakdowns include: 64 times on the road,
9 times in the NCAA tournament, 8 times on a neutral court in season, 7 times
in the Big East Tournament, 3 times in the NIT tournament, and 1 time each in
the ACC Tournament and ECAC Tournament.
Twelve players have scored 40+ points in a game. Bill Smith holds the school record with 47
against Lafayette in 1971.
Dave Bing holds the record for most field goals in a 30
point game with 19 against Colgate in 1965 on his way to 45 points. Allen
Griffin has the first field goals with only 5 needed in a 31 point effort
against St. John’s in 2001; he made 18 free throws and 3 three point shots in
that game to help the cause.
Rick Dean had the best shooting night when he went 13-13
against Colgate in 1966, on his way to a 30 point night. John Wallace had the
worst shooting night when he went 9-25 against Notre Dame in the Big East
Tournament in 1996. John did go 13-14
from the free throw line to help himself out.
Allen Griffin and Hakim Warrick each made 18 free throws on
their way to 30 points games. Buddy Boeheim, Bob McDaniel, Carl Vernick, and
George Kirchgasser had 0 free throws in their efforts (discussed earlier this week).
John Gillon, Gerry McNamara, Trevor Cooney, and James Southerland
all had prolific three point shooting nights to make 9 three pointers on their
way to 30+. Gillon was the best sharpshooter
in the effort going 9-10 from three and making 14-14 free throws.
Carmelo Anthony went 0-5 from three against Rutgers in 2003,
though he still managed to get 30 on 10-10 free throw shooting and 10-23 from the
floor.
Buddy Boeheim notched his third career 30 point game the other night in the win over Wake Forest. Boeheim’s shooting effort had an anomaly as he took no free throw attempts on his way to thirty.
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| Buddy Boeheim |
Carl Vernick accomplished the feat in December 1961 against Detroit when he made 15 field goals for 30 points. George Kirchgasser was the first Orange basketball player to accomplish the feat back on November 1904 against Jenners Prep. Kirchgasser also had 30 points on 15 field goal attempts. Kirchgasser also has the notable feat of being the first Orange player to score 30 in a game at all.
Five Orange players have scored 30+ points in a game with just one made free throw including Buddy himself last year, Preston Shumper, Lawrence Moten (2x), Sherman Douglas, and Dennis DuVal.
At the other extreme, we have Hakim Warrick and Allen Griffin who both had 18 made free throws on their way to 30+ points. Warrick was 18-22 from the line, and a poor 6-15 from the floor on his way to 30 points against Rhode Island in November 2003. Griffin was also 18-22 from the line, 5-9 from the floor, and 3-5 from three point range in March 2001 on his way to 31 points.
There have been 193 times an Orange player scored 30+ points in a game. They averaged 12.1 field goals made and 7.6 free throws made in those games. 75 of the 193 efforts were in the three point era; players averaged 3.4 three point field goals made in those 75 games.
Free throw shooting has long been the Achille's Heel of Syracuse basketball. A lot of fans may not have been paying attention, however, and noticed that the Orange have gotten much better as a team in that area the past few years. In fact last year's team was the best free throw shooting team in Syracuse history, and their clip of 78.2% is significantly better than the previous record of 75.1% set in the 1983-1984 season. The 2019-2020 season is now the fourth best on record for the Orange, so definitely an upward trend.
There are thirteen Orange starting backcourts that have made 78% or more of their free throws. Here are the thirteen, in order, with the current record holder listed first.
1. 2005-2006. Gerry McNamara hit 90.2% of his shots and Eric Devendorf 81.1%, as the duo combined for 175-201 for 87.1%. GMac is the school's all-time career free throw shooter, and Devo is 15th, so this really should not be a surprise for anyone.
2. 2016-2017. John Gillon hit 86.1% and Tyus Battle 79.8% as the duo combined for 84.8% on 190-224.
3. 2020-2021. Joe Girard hit 78% and Buddy Boeheim 84.9%, for a combined 84-103 for 81.6%. So it should not be a surprise that the duo is taking a run at the record. This is the least prolific duo on this list, even if you prorate the number of free throws to account for games missed due to Covid-19.
4. 2019-2020. Joe Girard hit 89.4% and Buddy Boeheim 71.4% for a combined 122-150 for 81.3%. This is a reverse of the following year, with Girard carrying load over Boeheim.
5. 1971-1972. Dennis DuVal hit only 66.0% and Greg Kohls 86.4%, for a combined 290-360 for 80.6%. This was a case of Kohls taking the vast majority of the free throw attempts. This was by far the most prolific free throw shooting duo of the top 13. Kohls took 257 of the free throw attempts himself, an outstanding number.
6. 1978-1979. Hal Cohen hit 76.9% and Marty Headd 82.1%, for a combined 105-132 for 79.5%.
7. 1967-1968. Rich Cornwall hit 85.9% and Ernie Austin 69.6% for a combined 112-141 for 79.4%.
8. 1984-1985. Pearl Washington hit 78.4% and Michael Brown 87.0%, for a combined 158-199 for 79.4%. In retrospect I wonder how many fans realized that the Pearl was a solid free throw shooter?
9. 2017-2018. Frank Howard hit 71.9% and Tyus Battle 83.9% for a combined 259-327 for 79.2%.
10. 2008-2009. Jonny Flynn hit 78.6% and Eric Devendorf 79.5% for a combined 277-351 for 78.9% This is the second most prolific duo on this list.
11. 2013-2014. Tyler Ennis hit 76.5% and Trevor Cooney 84.1% for a combined 167-212 for 78.8%.
12. 2004-2005 Gerry McNamara hit 87.4% and Louis McCroskey a very poor 50%, for a combined 131-167 for 78.4%. This was clearly a case of GMac carrying all the load of free throws.
13. 2002-2003. Gerry McNamara hit 90.9% and Kueth Duany a weak 67.5% for a combined 167-213 for 78.4%. Again, GMac carried the load for the free throws, but the duo did help lead the Orange to a National Championship. This is GMac's third entry on this list.
Boeheim and Girard will almost certainly make an entry into this top list, and have a real shot at #1. They already hold the third and fourth positions.
While doing this research, I found it interesting that most of the top free throw shooting backcourts for the Orange were in the past twenty years, with nine out of thirteen. The worst free throw shooting backcourts were predominantly in the 1950s and early 1960s. So when your father/grandfather says that "young players today don't know the fundamentals such as free throw shooting like we knew when I was growing up", you now have the evidence to contradict him.
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