Syracuse Basketball Players: Do They Stay or Go?

Syracuse basketball has some speculation surrounding a few of their players as to whether or not they will be with the team next year.

Aside from Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney, whom both graduate as fifth year seniors, there are four players whose status for next season is at least mildly uncertain. I say mildly because once you see the list, well, you’ll understand for at least one of the names.

Without further ado, those four players are: Kaleb Joseph, Chinonso Obokoh, Malachi Richardson, and Tyler Lydon.

Let’s go with the least likely to go anywhere and work our way up from there. Tyler Lydon is almost assuredly not going to declare for the NBA draft. He would be quite foolish to do so, as he is not even listed on any major draft board for this year, first or second round. Although I think he’s a phenomenal talent and has done an outstanding job this year, he needs at least one more year to bulk up to even consider going pro. In fact, I’d wager he’s here at least another two years if I’m being honest.

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The second rather unlikely person to go, at least at this point, is Malachi Richardson. Now I know what you’re thinking, “But Dave, he’s been so good for us this year and is our third leading scorer!”. Yeah, exactly. Third leading scorer. He’s been an oustanding talent as well, and has surpassed my wildest dreams for him as a freshman, but he isn’t even in the conversation of being a first round draft pick, and rightly so.

He’s shooting a rather pedestrian 38% from the field. Although he’s vastly improved his 3-point percentage over the last several weeks, he’s still only shooting at 36%. His assist to turnover ratio is less than 1.0, which is not good for any player, let alone a guy his size. He’s averaging 4.6 rebounds per game, but he’s playing small forward almost every minute. That’s again, pedestrian at best.

He’s shown flashes of brilliance driving to the hoop and done very well for Syracuse basketball, but none of his numbers are the kind that will warrant first round consideration, at least not yet.

If he has a huge finish to the season and plays lights out in the NCAA tournament, that could change, but don’t count on it. There are a lot of good freshman this year, as well as some solid international players that he almost surely won’t pass. Right now, Malachi is 53rd on the big board at nbadraft.net. Cbssports.com doesn’t even have him in their top 150 prospects. So breathe a little easier Syracuse basketball fans, Malachi is most likely going nowhere.

Next up is Chinonso Obokoh. Not a lot has been said about him at this point, but I’ve got to believe he’s at least considering a transfer. On top of getting basically zero playing time this year, things are just going to get worse next year. With Paschal Chukwu and Matthew Moyer entering the mix, along with Coleman, Roberson, and Lydon returning, there’s almost zero chance he will see any playing time. I would not be surprised in the slightest if he elected to transfer out of the program. I wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed either. Honestly it’s a toss-up with him.

Last but not least is Kaleb Joseph. If you ask me, Joseph is a serious risk to transfer. I can’t blame him, since he hasn’t seen playing time, other than with the walk-ons, in weeks. Franklin Howard has already supplanted him as the 7th man in the rotation this year and for good reason. Howard, while certainly not lighting it up, has shown flashes of true point guard potential. Joseph has shown none.

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It’s unfortunate too, because I do think Joseph is a very talented basketball player, but he’s a total headcase at this point. He gets on the floor and immediately does something stupid, like jacking up a terrible shot, making a questionable pass, or driving into the teeth of the defense and turning it over or getting blocked on a layup attempt. He’s clearly not ready for D-1 basketball, and at this point I’m not sure he ever will be, at least not at a high D-1 school like SU. I am about 75% sure that he transfers after this season.

So there you have it. Syracuse basketball fans can rest easier knowing that our two star freshman are most likely going nowhere. Obviously nothing is set in stone, but it would take some pretty lofty performances down the stretch for anything to change.

Things are looking up for SU’s future.