The Syracuse basketball team is currently 7-2 and ranked just outside the top 25. A big reason for that is thanks to Michael Gbinije, the fifth year senior transfer from Duke.
About four months ago, well before the first practice even happened, I wanted to know how Michael Gbinije looked after the off-season. So I spent five dollars to watch the AfroBasket 2015 tournament, where Gbinije played for Nigeria. Gbinije’s father was actually born in Nigeria, so even though Michael is a US-born citizen, he is allowed to play for Nigeria due to his family heritage.
Before the tournament started, I knew that he had spent a lot of time working in the off-season on his footwork, his quickness, his dribbling, and his strength. I desperately wanted to see if that training had paid dividends so I tuned in for all of their contests in the tournament.
What I saw there is what made me realize just how great Gbinije could be. I didn’t see a college kid trying to find his way. I saw a professional with a polished game and an incredibly high basketball IQ.
Aside from just the monster dunk shown above, Gbinije was a model of efficiency for Nigeria and an absolute spark plug off the bench. He hit 3’s, he rebounded, he threw excellent passes, and most importantly he defended with tenacity. In fact, I would say he was the best defender on the whole Nigerian squad. I think through the entire tournament I saw him get beat only once, and that was when he had to cover the post against a guy twice his size. One thing Gbinije can’t do is defend the post, and that’s completely fine. He’s an NBA guard most likely, not a big man.
So after watching him help Nigeria to the AfroBasket championship and helping them earn a trip to the Olympics, I knew this was going to be a special year for him. He developed all the tools to be incredibly successful, and if he could do that on a professional stage against NBA and Euro-League talent, his game should easily translate to the college level.
And it has.
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Through nine games, Gbinije is averaging 19.7 points per game, 3.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.9 steals. He’s shooting 50% from the field and even more impressively, 50% from 3-point range. Did I mention that he’s doing this while playing mostly point guard?
Yeah, in case you didn’t know, Gbinije is not a point guard. He actually came in as a small forward. That just makes it even more impressive what he’s accomplished thus far. Right now, he’s 8th in the ACC in assists per game, and that number seems to be climbing every week as he gets more comfortable in his role.
He just finished with 7 assists against Colgate. He also leads the ACC in steals and is tied for 6th nationally in that category. He’s third in the conference in points and has easily been one of the most complete players so far this year.
With that said, I think he’s starting to draw some serious consideration for not just All-ACC honors, but All-American. He’s proven that he can be a scorer, distributor, and play rock solid defense. In fact, I think he’s the best defender on this Syracuse basketball team. Sorry Cooney, you’re great, but Gbinije is longer, quicker, and has better hands.
If Gbinije can keep shooting like he has been, I think All-American is absolutely within reach. And there’s no reason at this point to think that his shooting will slow down. He has pretty much limitless range, drilling 3’s from 6-8 feet behind the arc, Steph Curry style, and if you try and guard him on the high screen he’s got the quickness to take the ball to the rim and draw a foul, get an easy bucket, or pass to a wide open shooter.
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The scary part is, Gbinije could be averaging even more assists than he has. So far this year, Syracuse has missed a remarkable 33 open-to-lightly-contested looks on passes from Gbinije. If they convert even half those, Mike’s assist total goes from 4.6 to 6.4. Basically what I’m saying is, his teammates have almost been a liability to his numbers at this point. He’s really been that good.
I for one couldn’t be happier for Mike. He’s had a tough road in college, transforming from a bench warmer at Duke, to a bench warmer at Syracuse, to a quality starter last year, to an absolute superstar this year. I don’t know how much higher his ceiling is, but if he’s still got a ways to go, the ACC better watch out. He could take them all by storm.
And speaking of storms, Gbinije will get a chance to pad some of his stats this Sunday as the Orange travel to MSG to take on the St. John’s Red Storm in another classic, former Big East rivalry game. For now, let’s just enjoy the ride and see how far he can take us. One thing is for sure, if he keeps this up, he might be able to bring back a famous slogan from another player with his same moniker. I mean, don’t we all wanna be like Mike?