 |
| The early departures of Tyler Ennis and Jerami Grant have some fans on edge. |
This has already been a tough offseason for Syracuse Basketball fans. After Tyler Ennis announced his decision to leave for the NBA a few weeks ago, Jerami Grant has now decided to do the same. Oh yeah, and UConn won it all... better than Kentucky maybe, but nonetheless pretty painful to watch.
At one point it seemed like there was so much potential for this Syracuse team, which as we all know makes the let down so much harder. For the cynics who deny ever having high hopes for this team, I bring you back to Pittsburgh when we were all convinced that this might be a team of destiny:
 |
Given the early departures, it's easy to understand why some might be low on 'Cuse hoops right now. However, we need to understand that this is simply the nature of college basketball. Players come and they go, but what remains is the program that they have helped build. Syracuse basketball isn't going anywhere, and fans should keep this in the front of their minds. That being said, we are losing a lot of talent and next year really could be a crapshoot. Here's an evaluation on both sides of the spectrum:
Why We Should Be Worried
-Fair, Ennis, Grant, Keita are all gone. This is the obvious one. With Ennis and Grant leaving early for the NBA, next year's roster is pretty much depleted in terms of established players. We lose three out of our top four scorers, and over 62% of our total scoring. We're left with question marks at pretty much every single position.
-Lack of proven players. At point guard, we are totally dependent on an incoming freshman to come in and take over once again. At forward, Tyler Roberson and incoming freshman Chris McCullough to be steady contributors offensively if this team is going to make the NCAA Tournament. This is a big ask seeing as how neither of them have ever played relevant minutes at this level. At center, Rakeem Christmas and DaJuan Coleman will have to hold down the paint. In my eyes, this is another huge question mark, and the ceiling for scoring from this position is incredibly low.
 |
| Cooney struggled to find his shot in the second half of the season. |
-Trevor Cooney? Cooney started this year on fire, and things were looking up for the "sharp-shooting" sophomore. Then things pretty much tanked. Trevor was shooting just 19% from 3-pt land during The Orange's 2-5 skid to end the regular season. I firmly believe this was significantly undervalued as a reason for the team's struggles. So for next season, Cooney is probably Syracuse's most established player, which is a little bit frightening. If he can't find some sort of consistency, next year could be a season from Hell.
Why We'll Be Fine
-Kaleb Joseph is impressing a lot of people recently. It's a shame that Tyler Ennis set the bar so high, because it's not realistic to expect that out of a freshman point guard. Regardless, the Kaleb Joseph hype is growing, and for good
reason. Joseph just led Cushing High School to their second consecutive league championship with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals in the title game. It also seems like the young point guard has the intangibles. Michael Hart, high school coach of Michael Carter-Williams, had this to say about Joseph:
"First of all, he's a winner. We had three years of battles with them, all of which were awesome. This year, in the semifinals, we had a four-point lead with 40 seconds left and Kaleb hit a three, then made a steal on one of our guys."
Kaleb Joseph might have the talent to come in as a freshman and lead this team to success. I guess we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, we can all drool over this video:
-Chris McCullough is an elite recruit. Ranked 24th on ESPN's top 100 for the Class of 2014, many argue McCullough is one of the best recruits Syracuse has hauled since 'Melo. The Insider scouting report has this to say about the 6'10 power forward:
"McCullough is a very long and athletic forward with obvious upside. He runs the court with long fluid strides, gets off his feet quickly, and gets his head on the rim. He is equally mobile laterally and is consequently a potentially versatile defender down the road while also a dangerous weakside shot-blocker."
If McCullough can come in and produce as a freshman, Syracuse won't be missing Jerami Grant quite as much.
-Class of 2015. I think we've gotten a little greedy with our expectations lately. It seems like every year in recent memory, Syracuse has been a national title contender. For the first time in a while, we might be on the brink of a "rebuilding year," which really isn't the end of the world. Especially with the recruits we have coming in 2015.
 |
| Malachi Richardson leads a talented Class of 2015 |
A few days ago, Franklin Howard gave his verbal commitment to Syracuse, joining Malachi Richardson and Tyler Lydon in the Class of 2015. Howard is an athletic shooting guard who stands at 6'4, with great slashing ability that compliments his shot. Lydon is 6'8 power forward that stretches the defense with his ability to shoot the ball.
There's a chance Howard will see limited minutes as a freshman, not because he's not good enough, but because Malachi Richardson is the real deal. The 6'6 (allegedly) shooting guard is ranked 10th in ESPN's top 60 for his class, and scouts have raved about his stroke. ESPN.com scouts had this to say:
"He's established that he's a big guard who strokes threes with range but also handles efficiently, can make plays with the ball in his hands and makes good decisions with the ball. Richardson is a true shooting guard that can shoot the ball with deep range."
As a freshman, Richardson helped Roselle Catholic win a state title alongside current Syracuse freshman Tyler Roberson. These two could be a lethal combination when they're reunited in 2015.
While these three recruits are plenty to be excited about, the Class of 2015 might not end there. According to ESPN, Syracuse still has 5 stellar recruits who are listed as "considering." All of them are ranked in the top 30 for their class, including two in the top 15:
It's not really Syracuse's style, but landing any of these recruits would result in a Calipari-esque recruiting class. I'm definitely not complaining.
While the upcoming season could possibly be an epic disaster, there's also the chance of overachievement on the backs of our rookies. Even if it doesn't work out, 2015 will bring bigger and better things to Syracuse. I'm definitely not worrying about the future, and neither should you.
Have yourselves a prime offseason, 'Cuse fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment