Syracuse: Rejuvenation Or Stagnation?

The score was 81-78. Jim Boeheim and Syracuse found themselves locked in a tight battle with Kansas in the 2003 NCAA championship game. With 13.5 seconds left to play, Hakim Warrick had just missed a pair of free throws that gave the Jayhawks new life.

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On the ensuing possession, three-point specialist and Kansas wing Michael Lee somehow got the ball in the corner with a chance to tie the game. As he launched what looked to be an uncontested jump shot from outside, Warrick flew towards the corner in what could have been perceived as an attempt to atone for his missed free throws.

Warrick’s left arm devoured the ball as it exited Lee’s hand and flew out of bounds, leaving Kansas only 1.5 seconds to attempt one last desperate heave to send the game to overtime. The game would not reach overtime, Syracuse would win their its first national championship, ensuring that Warrick’s block would be played repeatedly every year when March Madness rolls around.

Is that is as good as it is ever going to get for Syracuse basketball under Jim Boeheim? The date was April 7, 2003. Flash forward to May 2015. The present and the future is a muddled mess of NCAA violations, vacated victories, underperforming players, transfers, and the sooner-rather-than-later departure of a once-legendary coach.

The days of competing for national championships are over, or at least on pause. Boeheim will retire in three seasons, but for now he is a lame duck struggling to stay afloat in a pool of sudden mediocrity.

Last season while dealing with the aftermath of an NCAA investigation that eventually ended in sanctions, Syracuse was 18-13 (9-9 in the ACC) and missed the ACC and NCAA tournaments due to a self-imposed postseason ban.

One of the bright spots from the season, Rakeem Christmas, has graduated, taking his 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game with him. Also exiting is freshman Chris McCullough.

McCullough was a bit of a disappointment early in the season, only averaging 9.3 points and 6.9 rebounds on 47.8 percent shooting, but he had showed flashes of the potential that made many think he would be a lottery pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. In January the 6-foot-10 big man tore his ACL, ending his season after playing in only three ACC games.

Now McCullough is off to the NBA, leaving Syracuse’s cupboard a little emptier.

Where do the Orange go from here? Will last season be just a blip on the radar or a sign of things to come?

They return sharpshooter Trevor Cooney and versatile wing Michael Gbinije, the two players that finished second and third, respectively, in points per game last season. Cooney struggled through injuries most of the season and struggled to find his shot. He still averaged 13.4 points per game, but only shot 35.9 percent from the floor.

Gbinije, a transfer from Duke, scored 12.7 points per game and ended up as their most reliable outside threat, shooting 39.2 percent from three-point range. With the departure of Christmas and McCullough, those two will be expected to carry even more of the scoring load.

Cooney struggled when more responsibility was heaped onto his shoulders last season, but who knows how much of that had to do with his various maladies.

Also returning is point guard Kaleb Joseph. It was a rough freshman year for the highly coveted Joseph. He was asked to take over the point guard duties from Tyler Ennis, a player that had no trouble adjusting from high school to the college game. Joseph’s adjustment has been much more difficult.

The 6-foot-3 New Hampshire native averaged 5.9 points and 3.8 assists per game, but only shot 37.6 percent and just 20 percent from outside. He looked overwhelmed at times and understandably was not confident with his jump shot.

Feb 11, 2015; Chestnut Hill, MA, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Kaleb Joseph (14) drives to the hoop against the Boston College Eagles during the second half at Silvio O. Conte Forum. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports /

Joseph’s development will go a long way in determining Syracuse’s fate in 2015-16. Whether or not he can put those struggles behind him remains to be seen. He was a talented high school player and not everyone enters college instantly ready to be a star. I’ll reserve judgment on whether or not Joseph is a bust until he gets another season under his belt.

Filling out the rest of the team is an assortment of role players from last season and a four-man recruiting class that boasts two four-star shooting guards and two four-star power forwards. Most notably the group, features ESPN’s 23rd-ranked recruit in shooting guard Malachi Richardson.

The class as a whole is ranked seventh in the NCAA by ESPN and all four players are ranked in ESPN’s top 100 recruits for the class of 2015. For the time being, it appears that scandal and uncertainty have not hampered recruiting.

Last season Syracuse’s biggest issues were on offense. They had the 200th-best offensive rating in the country at 101.6. Their 43 percent shooting percentage and their 30.1 percent mark from three-point range ranked 203rd and 325th in the nation, respectively. Ouch.

Finding someone that can reliably put the ball in the basket, other than Cooney and Gbinije, will be the challenge. Cooney being completely healthy helps their outside shooting woes, while Richardson and his freshman cohort Franklin Howard are both billed as solid three-point shooters. Their famous zone defense will keep them in games by confusing lower caliber teams.

But without multiple players that can score, they won’t be contending for any legitimate hardware next season.

There’s talent on this roster, but it doesn’t come close to the days when Carmelo Anthony and Hakim Warrick called the Carrier Dome their home. That swagger that used to emanate from the Orange has started to fade away.

In three years Jim Boeheim will retire and then the program can finally move on into a new era. Given the less than ideal circumstances of these last few seasons, his retirement will be more like a slow walk into a thunderstorm rather than a peaceful ride into the sunset.

For now the Syracuse basketball program will attempt to move forward with Boeheim still at the helm, though stagnation seems more likely.

I’ve always thought that college basketball is better when the elite programs with proud traditions are battling it out for supremacy. For the sake of keeping that ideology a reality I hope next year’s Syracuse team outperforms expectations and proves me wrong.

Next: Three-Point Shooting is Key for North Carolina

Syracuse: Rejuvenation Or Stagnation?

By Andrew Snyder | May 10, 2015

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