Fresh 25: National Signing Day 2014 Overview

The Midwest and the Southeast sum up the 2014, Syracuse football recruiting class. 25 guys are on board to join the Orange next season. Pretty much half of the class hails from Illinois and Florida.

You can thank Scott Shafer and OC George McDonald for their recruiting efforts, there, as well as DL coach Tim Daoust and LBs coach Clark Lea. Overall, the Orange put together a solid class.

Everyone wonders where the former Marrone/Anselmo connections to the NY State and New Jersey area went. Well the bottom line is this: if you can recruit players down South in Florida and take advantage of Shafer's old roots, you absolutely do it.

The standouts of this class come on both sides of the ball.

LB Zaire Franklin - The Philly native has great maturity already in high school. He's prioritized school over sports and has a great head on his shoulders. One of the original three to go Orange

OL Denzel Ward - He put the flat-brim hat on at 11 AM today announcing he's taking his talents up On the Hill. Ward is 6'9"...SIX FOOT FREAKING NINE. He's a beast that had offers from Ohio State, Florida and Nebraska. His decision came down to Cuse, Vandy and USF. Great pick-up. He prasied Shafer's swaggy and the sports management program at SU.

WR KJ Williams - Easily the biggest get talent wise...IN 10 YEARS. The first 4-star recruit to pledge Orange in a long time. In my work over at Orange Fizz (orangefizz.net), KJ's told us that Marvin Harrison and Rob Moore are his influence. He wants to do great things like they did.

WR Steve Ishmael - Another awesome wide receiver get for Syracuse. Ishmael committed yesterday and signed on the dotted line today. He's in good talks already with QBs AJ Long and Alin Edouard.

QB AJ Long - The anchor perhaps as well as Twitter guru of recruiting! AJ is already up on campus as he enrolled early. Who knows, he may give QB Terrel Hunt a run for his money next season. HA!

For more coverage of National Signing Day, check out orangefizz.net for a full NSD thread that touches on every recruit.

Happy Signing everyone!

-Glash

Bring on the ACC -- #2 Syracuse Takes Care of Eastern Michigan to Cap Off Non-Conference Schedule

Jerami Grant skies to gain possession in SU's 70-48 win over Eastern Michigan. Grant had 15 points.

KEVIN RIVOLI - AP Photo

13 and bleeping 0. Who cares about who did or did not see this coming. As long as the team put it all out on the floor then no one is complaining. The 2013, soon to be 2014 Orange stay undefeated with a 70-48 W over Eastern Michigan. Syracuse notched its 51st straight non-conference win at the Carrier Dome, led by four scorers in double figures. Credit SU for not letting this game slip away, as the Eagles were within 8 at one point. Of course, the focus shifts to what everyone has been waiting for: The ACC Schedule.

Balanced Scoring Did the Trick

Rakeem Christmas and Jerami Grant topped out at 15 point apiece, CJ Fair chipped in 13, and Trevor Cooney added 10 to help SU pull out the win. 15 is a new career-high for Rak. Finally some inside production for SU, as its been a struggle dating back to last year.He grabbed just three boards, but was an efficient 7-8 from the field. You'll take that every night from X-Mas. As for the rest of the gang, Grant played like the sixth man we've expected to see all year. Iffy 5-10 at the FT line and four turnovers, but he made up for those blemishes by attacking the basket and being a spark off the pine. Fair and Cooney, up to their same old ways.

T-Dot Stays Scheming Despite Scoreless

Tyler at it again on NYE, as the point guard recorded nine assists, five boards and three steals in the victory even though he didn't score a single point. Be ready for afternoons like this from Ennis. He change ball games in multitudes of ways. He doesn't have to score to be effective as we saw today. The ACC will present new and difficult challenges for the frosh, but he's shown us enough where I think he's ready for just about anything. He's calm and cool under pressure. Some argue he already has enough pressure on him as MCW's assassin and the unsung leader of a #2 team in the country. 

The Other Tyler Is Quietly Emerging 

Yeah it's just Eastern Michigan, but Tyler Roberson is slowly becoming Boeheim's favorite freshman off the bench. Roberson scored a career-high 6 points on 2-3 shooting and had 5 rebounds Tuesday. After Fair and Grant, Rob arguably severs as their best replacement for his size and speed. He was a solid scorer in high school and he could provide the same spark up On the Hill. It will be tough to notice this with conference play coming up, but perhaps Roberson's number will be called on to step up down the road. I'm telling you, keep an eye out for him.

ACC! ACC! ACC!

Again, the moment we've all been waiting for. Everyone was amped for SU Football and it's shift to the ACC, but come on the basketball team is the real story. Match-ups with UNC and Duke are right around the corner now. Syracuse's New Year's Resolution has to be an ACC Championship as a first-year member of the conference. That would be bitter sweet. This team looks ready to put in work and cause immediate havoc. You can't take away what Syracuse experienced in the Big East, that meaning the physicality, grit and toughness the program exhibits. The Orange plays with anybody. It's that simple. If you don't, just look through the archives. Bring on the ACC, Cuse Nation. 

I'm out.

--Glash

So We Meet Again -- Former SU Assistant Rob Murphy Returns as Eastern Michigan Visits the Orange on NYE

No this isn't Rick Pitino coming back to the Carrier Dome today. A different Boeheim minion is back. It's Rob Murphy (Class of 1997), an assistant coach to Boeheim for seven seasons at Syracuse. Murphy leads his Eastern Michigan Eagles up On the Hill to battle the #2 Orange today.

What the Eagles are up against?

EM has a tough task at hand, as the Cuse just willed itself to a huge win Saturday over Villanova, 78-62, to stay unbeaten and among college basketball's best. Tyler "T-Dot" Ennis continues his phenomenal freshman stint with the Orange. Saturday marked the third notable game (at least in my book) he didn't record a turnover. In outings against Indiana and what was #18 Baylor (now #9 btw), Ennis had a big fat goose egg in the TO column. Pretty impressive out of the gate without a doubt.

Can CJ Fair get off the schneid against the Eagles?

Per ESPN, Fair hasn't had his best games against Eastern Michigan. He's totaled just 12 points on 4 of 13 shooting in two career games against it. However, what is on Fair's side is his recent streak of good basketball. He's shooting more than 50% from the field in five of the last six. He's emerged as SU's go-to scorer, averaging almost 18 a game. Fair will be matched by Eagles forward Karrington Ward and his deep ball shooting this afternoon. Ward does struggle, though, against ranked opponents, as his season average of 15 PPG dips to 9 in those specific games. Fair should be just fine.

Is this THE trap game?

My partner 'n crime Ron Schiltz believed the 'Nova game was a trap match-up for the Orange. Yeah we noticed the skepticism on Twitter, and I understand both angles here. I think this might be the trap game for SU. You have a former assistant coach coming in who understands Boeheim system in Murphy. As a program, Syracuse is also just one game away from when the fun really starts: ACC compeition. Don't tell me these guys like veteran CJ Fair and Baye Moussa Keita are not looking forward to this already. CJ pretty much stayed for his senior year to get this awesome experience. The Orange should cruise in this one but those are some possible angles you can take for making the case that it's a "trap game."

Predicition

Syracuse soars high and above the Eagles 77-52. Did I mention EM comes off a loss to the #9 Duke Blue Devils? A crushing defeat 82 - 59 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. When you are a program that has to face Top 10 opponents in back-to-back games, it's hard to believe you have a chance to even keep up. Just to prove even more we are better than Duke, SU wins by 25 rather than Duke's 23-pt win. Ha ha, Duke! See ya in February. 

Happy New Year from Melo's Cornrows! Follow us during the game on Twitter @Meloscornrows and check out the site afterwards for post-game reaction and Syracuse's New Year Resolution!

--Brendan Glasheen