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Syracuse landed their second graduate transfer for the 2016 season yesterday in Andrew White.

Will his signing bolster Syracuse in pre-season rankings and ACC predictions?

To Coach Boeheim, Coach Gerry McNamara, and Coach Hopkins they could care less.

They’re use to it. McNamara’s freshman year in 2003 featured a Syracuse team unranked that went on to win the NCAA title.

In 2009, Syracuse sparked by transfer Wes Johnson went from unranked to top ten in a span of a week with upsets over North Carolina and California.

Johnson keyed the start of Jim Boeheim’s adaptability in the current latter stage of his coaching career.

At the time Boeheim despised accepting transfers. Overall, Johnson was the fifth transfer Boeheim had accepted to the program in thirty-two years at Syracuse.

Two years later in 2011 the Syracuse basketball program was under heat with an 878 APR score, which was the second worst in division one men’s basketball.

Boeheim didn’t budge in his recruiting tactics, instead he has added more walk ons that in turn have kept Syracuse in good standing academically.

The controversy only continued for Syracuse after the dust settled on the Bernie Fine investigation.

Overall Syracuse faced a one-year post-season ban and a reduction of athletic scholarships.

This has forced Boeheim and his staff to have fewer leniencies with players. In 2015, Syracuse lost Ron Patterson and BJ Johnson as transfers.

Two players left again this past off-season as Kaleb Joseph and Chinoso Obokoh transferred from the program.

In my opinion player’s transferring out of the program is not a coincidence.

Joseph and Obokoh transferring combined with the graduations of Trevor Cooney, Michael Gbinje, and Malachi Richardson left Syracuse with five slots to fill via scholarship.
As Boeheim has adapted Syracuse has enjoyed an Elite Eight and two Final Four appearances in the last five years.

Expect that to continue in 2016.

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Value in the futures market is typically tight in the majority of sports. Barring an injury, you’re typically not going to get anything higher than 25-1 in major professional sports. The collegiate market is vastly different. There is more uncertainty with recruits and obviously there is a larger pool of teams. Shifting of odds are constant and at a considerable higher benchmark. The difficulty to make it through an NCAA tournament in March presents that variable of such expanded odds.

Those that have followed my collegiate advice over the years, have seen that I’ve picked four of the past five college basketball tournament winners. Louisville and Duke were teams that I picked before their respective seasons. I liked the returning players from Louisville’s team and the coaching factor with Rick Pitino. Duke’s scenario had more to do with their incoming recruits and also the extra edge with Coach K. UConn’s title runs, I made both picks during the season. I grabbed UConn at 40-1 during their conference slide in 2011 and I grabbed them during their tournament run at 35-1 before the sweet 16.

Heading into the 2015 season I do not have an odds on favorite at this moment. This is where I typically probe the market and grab a few value plays. The only one I’ve made so far was on the Orangemen at 200-1 a couple of weeks back. Odds that have dropped down to 50-1 just two weeks later.

Syracuse certainly will not be a top 20 team to start the season, but they have the make up of a team that will get better as the season goes on. Obviously there were market indicators that caused their price to leap to 200-1. One, their season is marked a bit by the forth coming Jim Boeheim conference suspension of nine games. That is in the appeal process and I believe it will end up being reduced. Nonetheless, their assistant coach in Mike Hopkins has been Boeheim’s aide for a long time. He has been a finalist the past several seasons for Division I positions and should be fine running Syracuse if Boeheim misses the entire nine games.

Another factor was the reduction of scholarships for Syracuse basketball. They will lose 2-3 a season for the duration of the imposed sanctions by the NCAA. As Jay Bilas noted, a school like Syracuse is not going to be effected by this. Duke just won the 2014-2015 NCAA title with only eight scholarship players. Losing BJ Johnson and Ron Patterson as transfers is not an alarming issue for depth next season. Johnson did show some promise but I did not envision him becoming capable of starters minutes. Patterson is just not an ACC player. Both made wise decisions to step down in competition to increase their presence for their collegiate careers. Similar to DaShonte Riley when he exited Syracuse for Eastern Michigan; decisions to leave Syracuse are not going to cause a seismic decline on the court for Syracuse.

Syracuse has a top five recruiting class coming in, but I won’t even delve into how they’ll help next year’s squad. Instead the focus will be on the returning group of players.

The fact that Syracuse lost Rakeem Christmas to graduation and that Chris McCullough declared for the NBA Draft was another reason odds were at 200-1 in April. Over the last eight years, Syracuse has only had three seasons where they counted on point production inside. Last year with Christmas, a few seasons back with Rick Jackson, and the combo efforts of Jackson/Onuako in 2010. Fab Melo had one semi-decent year but was more of a mirage for production.

Syracuse has always been a program that counts on offensive production from their guards and forwards. The key for their big men is the ability to defend the interior and grab rebounds in the 2-3 zone. The best decision Syracuse made last year was to not rush DaJuan Coleman back. His last game on the court came against Virginia Tech in December 2013. It’s still not known how much he will be able to provide but he is expected to return. Maybe it’ll be in a limited role but 15-20 minutes a game on defense will go a long ways. Coleman and Chinonso Obokoh should be more than capable of protecting the rim for Syracuse.

Scoring 60-65 points a game typically is going to put you in position to win games. College basketball’s pace and poor shot selection leaves plenty of teams unwatchable. Syracuse has four players that should easily put them in position every game to score in that range. Seniors in Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinje had effective seasons in 2014. Their confidence should only grow with another offseason of preparation. Sophomore Kaleb Joseph went through his freshman slump but started to turn the corner late in conference play. Sophomore guards/point guards typically rise in level of play after their freshman seasons at Syracuse. Michael Carter-Williams, Johnny Flynn, Brandon Triche, Scoop Jardine, and even Cooney rose to higher levels their sophomore years. Joseph will be the x-factor on if Syracuse stays around the 25-35 range of top teams or ascends into the top 10-15.

I think we’ve seen the best that Syracuse will likely receive from Tyler Roberson. He is a tough guard inside for opposing defenders but will have to earn his points as the third to fourth option on the floor for Syracuse. Designed plays are going to run through Cooney/Joseph/Gbinje. Still, Roberson has the size and aggression to be an 8-10 points a game scorer.

200-1 was an obvious mistake from oddsmakers. When UConn received their one-year post season ban they came back and played with a chip on their shoulder. It took almost the entire season for UConn to find their way, but they did right before the tournament. It took a couple of beat down losses to Louisville in conference play for that to happen.

It’ll be a long season for Syracuse fans but don’t be shocked to see them make a run when March hits. If you didn’t get 200-1 odds a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t be upset. 50-1 are still solid odds. They have 5-6 veteran players and a good group of incoming freshman to make them a viable team in 2015-2016.

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When offseason’s are quiet when they are not expected to be, fans begin to talk. The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball program has been elite for the last five to six years. Each season being a top 25 team and for the most part top ten.

The unexpected departures of Tyler Ennis and Jerami Grant have most Cuse fans preparing for a letdown in 2014. They only have two recruits incoming. Chris McCullough who just received clearance and Kaleb Joseph the only point guard on Syracuse’s roster.

Many would have expected Syracuse to go after a late signee or to secure a graduate transfer. Teams that reach this late tend to create more problems for the upcoming season.

This may have been a light year for Syracuse recruiting but they still have a nucleus to work with. Trevor Cooney showed signs of promise throughout the Syracuse season, even though he took a brunt of criticism from fans. The fact of the matter is, he was a first year starter as a sophomore after receiving hardly any playing time the season before. Struggles are bound to happen for any sophomore. Cooney will surely be working to develop more off the dribble moves to keep defenders guessing.

Michael Gbinije will also be a junior. The versatile wing will be leaned on this season. As the season wore on last year he started to become a reliable component for Syracuse. Boeheim even started to give him more minutes especially when Cooney wasn’t producing.

For both Cooney and Gbinije they have the maturity to excel this season. Both are listed as juniors but each sat out a season. Gbinije through his transfer from Duke and Cooney as a redshift freshman behind a plethora of Orange guards, including Triche, Dion Waiters, and Michael Carter-Williams.

The Orange also have senior big man Rakeem Christmas who is a very steady force inside. He knows his role and is a force defensively. Around the country there are not too many strong big men so expect Christmas to be a shining inside presence this year.

The rest of the Syracuse lineup remains a question mark. Will DeJuan Coleman return healthy and finally become a player the Orange foresaw when they signed him out of high school? He could be a big boost to the interior for the Orange.

Besides those four players the rest of the Orange will be secured by sophomores and freshman. Almost none of last year’s freshman saw the court. Tyler Roberson was the exception and his minutes were scarce.

Roberson showed enough athleticism to garner instant minutes but lacked the on court demeanor needed to play heavy minutes. That will change this year. Roberson could be the next in line of Syracuse sophomores to explode from their freshman to senior seasons.

Ron Patterson and BJ Johnson are the huge question marks. They’ll get their share of minutes, likely of the bench. Syracuse’s bench performance over the last five to six years has been one of the main reasons they have remained a top 25 team. Last year’s bench production was the exception, as Boeheim kept a limited lineup.

But in years past he has relied on a key six man to spark the offense. Jerami Grant was the person last year before DaJuan Coleman got hurt, Kris Joseph, Dion Waiters, Scoop Jardine, Andy Rautins, etc. have all filled that role.

I’m not as low on this 2014 season as publications are stating. Points offensively have never been a consistent reliability with Syracuse. That won’t change this season. They’ll have their typical slides of inadequate shooting slumps. But look across the country. This offseason for many college programs has been a train wreck. Players are jumping ship more than ever. This is coming off a season that college basketball parity was the highest it’s been in quite some time.

An athletic wing is still there with Tyler Roberson over Jerami Grant. Roberson may even be a better shooter than Grant. McCullough is surely an upgrade over Baye Keita. CJ Fair was great as a Syracuse Orangemen but his strengths were maximized deep into ACC play. Teams knew his go to dribble and strong left hand. Sets that Syracuse ran were timed out perfectly by teams such as NC State, Boston College, and others.

It became painful to watch how teams knew Syracuse’s limitations offensively.

Coming into 2014 no team will have a clue how to guard Syracuse. The only thing they know is Trevor Cooney is a three point shooter. Cooney seems like a prototypical Syracuse four year guard. Fans love to hate him but he’ll only get better year to year. You would have graded him most improved sophomore in the country if you remembered his horrendous limited minutes as a redshirt freshman compared to last year.

Publications are looking at what Syracuse has lost and not the program. Talent has left and been replaced each of the last six seasons. This year will be no different and has the makings of the 2010 team.

Syracuse was written off as a non Top 25 team after losing Paul Harris, Jonny Flynn, and Eric Devendorf. No one expected Wes Johnson, Scoop Jardine, and 5th year senior Andy Rautins to flourish.

Not knowing who this Syracuse team will rely upon offensively is going to boost this 2014 team. Losses will happen but look for Syracuse to be a dangerous tournament team.

With the bevy of 2015 recruits locked in, the future is only looking brighter for Syracuse. Imagine seniors Gbinije and Cooney paired with current talent and the 2015 recruiting class? Keep the Orange gear out fans, it’s not time to hide yet.

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As Jim Boeheim parades the Cuse’ bench motioning and yelling at his players there is a calmness of his assistants and team staff. The ACC shift and facing coaches that haven’t played Syracuse twice in a year for their coaching tenure, has heightened team confidence amongst the staff and players. Syracuse University has resurged to dominance in college basketball by doing it a bit differently than others. The course of one and dones and high amount of transfers has reigned heavily on college basketball. For Syracuse they’ve created their own system where pieces can come and go, with a plan in-waiting.

The last non-Syracuse team that didn’t have matched personnel to Boeheim’s system was in 2009. A team loaded with talent just did not have the tenacity on defense to handle the zone appropriately. Eric Devendorf, Johnny Flynn, Paul Harris, etc. were great in stretches but never committed to Boeheim’s zone defense. To be honest I always sensed something weird about the early departures of all three. Devendorf and Harris clearly weren’t ready to jump to the NBA. Maybe Boeheim was ready for an overhaul. Since then the team has blossomed four consecutive years. All with key pieces shifting and departing due to graduation or leaving early for the draft.

It’s fair to say each of the last four years Syracuse has lost a stud sophomore and an upperclassmen that has stayed his course.
09- Flynn, sophomore, early departures Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf, 10′ Wes Johnson-Junior (Only One Year at Cuse) Rautins, 12′ Waiters-soph, Fab Melo, Jardine, Kris Joseph 13′ MCW-soph, Triche, Southerland

The testament and detest the media has on Syracuse’s zone defense year in and year out is as cycled as it comes. When they’re coasting and winning, the ESPN analysts are wooing the Cuse’s zone. A loss and breakout the telestrator and the analyst that is suddenly non-mystified by the ease of beating the zone.

Like in any sport with any team a poor night is going to happen. On a poor night execution falters. Execution is the sole reason why the zone gets beat time and time again on a poor night. A team can hit three pointers at a 50% rate and shift the ball inside/out by using the free throw line and ten different other ways Jim Boeheim has seen over the last forty years. It’s been done.

What’s never discussed is the amount of wins Syracuse gets from adjustments. Over the last four years Syracuse has been in more than their fair share of close games–against small schools and big name schools. Boeheim’s shifting and manuevering of the zone to take away scouted advantages has easily propelled Syracuse to a high teens wins to loss shift over the last four years. An area fans of all sorts and the media misses out on.

The balance in Syracuse basketball is at an all time high. Recruiting stellar athletes has not been the case. They may get two to three top 100 recruits each year, but rarely is that player considered a top ten to twenty player. Those that have been in Fab Melo and DaJuan Coleman were big men that haven’t met expectations—yet in Coleman’s case. What Syracuse has done is recruit to their system and develop.

Not very many schools are doing the secondary part of the last sentence. College basketball seems to be so heavily in influx and roster changes that development is being missed out on. With Syracuse its stayed constant.

Boeheim has kept the school and his staff as in-house as any school in the country. It starts with him and his nest of assistants are all former players of his. Adrian Autry, Mike Hopkins, Gerry McNamara, and Nick Resavy. All have been integral in boosting Syracuse’s on-court performance, especially McNamara who has developed the shots on plenty of current and past shooters at Syracuse.

A great coaching staff can be found amongst several top tier programs, but the key piece to Syracuse’s leap and transformation has been strength and conditioning coach Ryan Cabiles.

He has been at Syracuse since 2007, but what good is a strength and conditioning coach without the proper facilities?

Take a guess on what year the Melo Center was completed? That’s correct, 2009. The correlation is not a coincidence.

Right around that time is when you started to see extreme differences in Syracuse basketball players strength, quickness, leaping abilities, and body fat percentage. At the start of the 2010 season Syracuse was not even ranked in the top 25. That changed quickly with big upsets to start the season. With everyone praising the addition of Wes Johnson and Syracuse, I was stunned to see the transformation of Arinze Onuaku and Scoop Jardine. Both had adapted to Cabiles workouts and were in the best shapes of their Syracuse careers.

A year later Rick Jackson followed suit and had a complete slimmed down body for his senior season. Jackson was the epitome of a blue chip recruit who became one of the best big men in college basketball. The same body transformation occurred with Fab Melo a year later, and DaJaun Coleman a year later.

One of the necessities of the Syracuse zone defense is reacting quickly and blocking shots as a help defender. Syracuse has continued to be one of the NCAA leaders in blocks because they swarm and fly to the ball. The zone may have smaller athletes but the quickness has not dropped one bit. Jerami Grant is this years obvious example. Not only is he much bigger but he is quicker and has added noticeable inches to his vertical leap.

Getting players into shape and advancing all the other variables just mentioned is impressive. But the other factor for Syracuse that has been underrated is the lack of injuries. The one key injury over the last five years was to Arinze Onuaku on a freak play underneath the basket against Georgetown in the Big East quarterfinals.

Fans have had to be more worried about an academic suspension than a player injury over the last five years. Another pad to the back to Ryan Cabiles.

UNLV has to be kicking themselves. Cabiles was a UNLV graduate and on their staff as a strength and conditioning assistant upon graduation. From there he worked his way up the ladder at a few different positions before landing at Syracuse.

To me Cabiles is the main catalyst for Syracuse’s continued success over the last four years. The coaching staff is great but the coup de grace to the rest of the NCAA is Cabiles.

With parity reigning more than ever this year, Syracuse will once again be in great shape to make another run at cutting down the nets.

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Down 35-13 and issues with the offensive line and consistent running attack, head coach Doug Marrone had to think of something quick. If not a blowout loss would happen at home to the chagrin of the home fans and be a poor indicator for future games. Though Syracuse suffered a loss after a terrific comeback there are positives to take away from the game.

Ryan Nassib struggled for portions of the game. Issues prevalent a year ago with how pressure affects the offensive line was apparent. Nassib’s pocket was collapsing so quick that a lot of football were ending up on the Carrier Dome turf. The speed of the pass rush had to be offset, and Marrone decided the only way to do it was push the tempo.

With the tempo increased Nassib took advantage of a poor Northwestern secondary and with each of his 45 completions, the team kept hurrying to the line of scrimmage. It not only saved time on the clock but it kept Northwestern defenders on their heels.

Throwing sixty six throws is not something that can lead to success every week. Syracuse does not have the offensive fire power to do so against stronger defensive teams. For a week though it was great to see Ryan Nassib’s maturation in one game. He did not let the team being down affect him. Each touchdown leading drive the team seemed to respond stronger defensively and offensively.

A bright side to the passing game was senior Marcus Sales and Jeremiah Kobena. Sales caught twelve of Nassib’s forty five completions including a grab in between a couple defenders for forty one yards. Freshman Ashton Broyld contributed as well. With Alec Lemon likely returning soon, the Orange do have many weapons at their disposal in the passing game.

One strength does not offset all weaknesses. Syracuse needs the offensive line to develop camaraderie. Protection needs to be better especially for the amount of drop back throws Nassib will likely have each week. As close as this game ended up, turnovers (3) were a deciding matter in the game. It’s going to take Syracuse flawless games in the turnover department to pull out these type of games.

Prince Tyson-Gulley was relegated to an all purpose back against Northwestern. His touches were minimal seven rushing and seven catching, but he made the most of them. Totaling near 100 yards combined. He had a nice run in the first half for a touchdown to give Syracuse a 13-7 lead. That would be the last touchdown Syracuse scored before giving up twenty eight straight to Northwestern.

Syracuse has a history in the Doug Marrone era of playing some awful quarters and than springing back to life. The game against West Virginia a season ago was one game that everything clicked on all cylinders. Nassib and Marcus Sales are both fifth year seniors that need to ensure the lulls stop.

Nassib has a solid arsenal of throws to get defenses off balance, even with a spotty offensive line. His jump ball quick throw to the tight end seems to be an offset to the defensive pass rush.

If Nassib can stay healthy he may break more than single game records. Hits come with pass attempts and Nassib seemed to be rattled after one throw in the first half. The hit seemed to have came right in his abdomen area. After staying down for a few minutes he was able to shake it off. With the way he performed, opposing coaches are going to want to knock Nassib around each chance the team gets.

Protection will be key to the rest of the season for the Orange, and Nassib.

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Yes Jim Boeheim is still head coach at Syracuse, and looks like he can do it well into his seventies. Boeheim and assistant coach Mike Hopkins are coming off a gold medal aiding the USA team from the sidelines. Once again Boeheim seemed to spark Carmelo Anthony, who shot a blistering percentage from three point range.

The focus now swings to a monumental year for the Orangmen. Their schedule has been patched together little by little, and the traditional hot start should be expected. With their last season in Big East play will the Orangemen continue to be conference powers with a strong Louisville team in the way?

Jim Boeheim and his coaching staff have done an excellent job at recruiting. So much that maybe last season they had too much talent. A top sixty five recruit in Trevor Cooney decided to red shirt because of the Orangemen’s depth. McDonalds All-American Michael Carter-Williams hardly stepped on the floor, even though his minutes of play seemed justified for more.

Ruts would not occur often but when they did it often came from the upper classmen on the team involving Scoop Jardine or Kris Joseph. Especially Joseph who seemed to of taken a few steps back from his sophomore and junior seasons as a senior. It was hard for the team to depend on Joseph and that became critical in the NCAA tournament when minutes and the nucleus of forward scoring shifted to James Southerland and CJ Fair.

The infusion of talent is always going to be there at Syracuse. Combining those skills and getting the zone to stay active a full season is the main question. Syracuse comes in yet again as a top ten contender in 2012 and should be.

Lanky big man Rakeem Christmas had a typical big man freshman campaign under Boeheim. He was thrown into the fire and took the heat from his coach as if he were an upper classmen. Much like Fab Melo had a vast transformation, expect the same from Christmas this season. Someone is going to need to contend with Gorgui Dieng, and Christmas will get the majority of minutes to defend him.

He did an admirable job in an increased role in the NCAA tournament, and seems to have been working hard in the off-season in preparation of a big role. Syracuse does have DaJuan Coleman and Baye Mousse Keita to rotate various lineups. Keita will likely see twelve to sixteen minutes a game strictly as a rotation guy.

DaJuan Coleman’s role is one of high interest. If he comes in with an understanding and in proper shape, Boeheim could go back to the Onuaku/Rick Jackson days. Placing Coleman and Christmas in the starting lineup. That may be down the road in the season though, as Syracuse will need offense from those two if that were the case. Christmas may be ready to step up offensively but can he remain effective defensively?

Instead of having the size on the backside of the zone, expect Syracuse to use their wing men in CJ Fair and James Southerland as starters. Even though Brandon Triche is the senior on this team, CJ Fair is the leader. This team will go as deep as Fair can take them. With limited shot attempts, Fair always seems to fill up the statistic box. His shot attempts will easily exceed last years. Off the bounce and inside fifteen feet Fair is hard to stop. His points per game average may be the highest since Wes Johnson was at Syracuse.

Southerland is one of those journeyman Syracuse players that has been buried behind talent most of his career. Mookie Jones and graduates are now gone, leaving Southerland a chance to shine. Much like Preston Shumphert started to come alive his junior year as an Orangemen, the same could be related to Southerland. He is athletic and tall at 6’8. Last season Boeheim was forced to go smaller at times and Southerland played the role fine, and is a presence as a weak side shot blocker.

Southerland just needs to refrain from shooting too many threes, as it hurts Syracuse defensively in transition.

Where Syracuse is going to have strength yet again is at the guard positions. Brandon Triche has been rotated in and out of the Syracuse lineup too much the last two seasons. A player can not get into proper rhythm in college basketball by being substituted as much as Triche was. Boeheim had to get Dion Waiters in, and also play Jardine, so it was a tough spot for Triche.

Now he will get thirty plus minutes a game and be the voice of this team. Triche has drawn high praise from Jay Bilas who stated on national televised games he believed Triche was the best Syracuse player, and that was with Dion Waiters on the roster. Triche is a hot and cold type player, but doesn’t settle. He will take the ball to the hoop and does not get over zealous with an outside jumper. Expect Triche to continue the trend of Syracuse seniors going in the second round of the NBA Draft.

Triche will be hungrier than any Orangemen with strong focus the whole year. He was on the teams that lost to Butler in the Sweet 16, Marquette, and last years elite eight.

The true gem of the team will be Michael Carter-Williams. He dazzled in limited action last year and could be on his way to the NBA with an all around year. Williams won the skills competition as a McDonald’s All American, and is a better passer than Scoop Jardine. Point guards that can run the zone offense off transition defense can get themselves in rhythm just off that.

Unlike Jardine who sometimes would get himself in trouble in half court offense, Carter-Williams has the size (6’5) and speed to run a half court offense efficiently.

Bench production will remain solid for the Orange. Trevor Cooney will likely be the first man off the bench to spell the backcourt. Incoming freshmens DaJuan Coleman and Jerami Grant will get significant minutes for typical freshman. Grant played in the USA under 18 team this summer and has ascended the top 100 rankings from when Syracuse received his commitment. If Southerland struggles, Grant could get minutes in the high teens.

Reloading is what Syracuse has continued to do the last three seasons. Ever since the tandem of Eric Devendorf, Jonny Flynn, and Paul Harris left, the team has had to deal with replacing three guys almost every year.

Boeheim knows he has been close to having National Title seasons in 2010 and last year. The moment will come and it could be this year. If sophomores Rakeem Christmas and Michael Carter-Williams flourish combined with the steady play of Triche and CJ Fair, there is no doubt this team can return to the Elite 8.

From there it would be matchups. 1987.…1996.….2003. The trend of ten years or under back to the national championship has to happen in 2013.