Syracuse Basketball has had a long and rich history full of talent. Some we’ve seen in person, while others were way before our time. Every Sunday, Inside the Loud House will release five of the Top 50 Players they believe are the best in Syracuse Basketball History. This week we start the countdown with #50.
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Syracuse Basketball is a storied program and an NCAA powerhouse. A lot of that has to do with Jim Boeheim’s impact since he became coach in 1976. He turned a good program into a great one, and for that he is considered one of the all-time greatest coaches.
How much do we really know about Syracuse Basketball’s past though? Do we really know some of Syracuse’s All-Time Greatest Players?
In an effort to gain a deeper respect and knowledge of Syracuse Basketball, Inside the Loud House has done its research and compiled a list of the Top 50 players we believe were the best to ever don an Orange uniform. Though Boeheim did not coach everyone that is listed in this Top 50 we’ve created, he did coach the majority of them. That just goes to show his ability to bring in and develop boys into men while playing for Syracuse University.
This Top 50 is Inside the Loud House’s best attempt at ranking the Top 50 Basketball players to play for Syracuse University. Some were way before our time, so that does make them hard to rank, but we did our best to rank them based on their stats and what has been written about them. If we missed someone you felt deserved to be on the list, or you think someone should have been ranked higher, make sure to let us know in the comments.
So without further ado, let’s start the countdown with #50.
#50: Jim Boeheim
Guard: 1964-1966
As many of you know, Jim Boeheim played for Syracuse Basketball as a guard before he coached the team. Now, i’m not saying he was like a superstar or anything, but he definitely earned his spot in our Top 50 with his play and determination.
Boeheim was a walk-on early on in his Orange career, according to BleacherReport. As most know, walk-ons hardly ever get a chance to play. Boeheim though worked hard and earned a spot in the starting lineup by the time his junior year came around. By senior year, he had played well enough as a role player to earn a scholarship.
Many may point to the fact that Dave Bing, a Syracuse Legend and Boeheim’s roommate, played a huge part in his development as a player. However, I disagree with that statement. Based on what I’ve heard, Boeheim was a player who hit the gym hard early and often. He put in the work, and played his heart out in order to earn a spot in the rotation. That hard work and determination eventually paid off with a spot on the team as a scholarship player.
His numbers got better as his Syracuse career went on. As a sophomore in 1963, he only averaged 5.2 points a game, according to Orangehoops.org. However, by senior year though in 1965, he averaged 14.6 points, 3.1 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game. That’s quite a jump and shows really just how far he came as a player.
Boeheim is the perfect example of how hard work can lead you to your dream. He is a living example of that, and is continuing to live that dream by being Head Coach of Syracuse Basketball. For all these reasons, superstar or not, he deserves to be among the Top 50 best Syracuse Basketball players of All-Time.
#49: Scoop Jardine
Guard: 2007-2011
SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s the sound fans would make when Scoop Jardine would make a big play for the Orange. I used to think it was booing, because he did make a lot of silly plays at times, but it wasn’t. Scoop wasn’t a human highlight reel by any stretch, but he made the best of the talent he had.
Jardine was a player the Orange could count on to make plays either by scoring or assisting in key situations. He averaged 9.0 points and 4.4 assists a game, while shooting 45%, according to Sports-Reference.com. His main purpose though, in my opinion, was being a mentor and floor leader.
When Jardine played at Syracuse, the Orange were picking up lots of Top 100 commits out of high school. As such, Jardine became the perfect role model for freshman coming in. He had a great work ethic and a great smile to go with decent skills. That helped mold the new crop of Orangemen from boys into men.
Now, most wouldn’t say that’s enough to qualify Jardine for a Top 50 spot. My response to that is this: while on the team, Syracuse was ranked first nationally during two of those seasons, was given two #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, was the Big East Regular Season champion twice, and made the NCAA tournament four times in his five years (one year he was a redshirt), according to Orangehoops.com. In addition, in his last season he led the Orange to the Elite 8. If that isn’t a track record of success I don’t know what is.
Scoop was a player who didn’t need the stats or the highlights, he just wanted to make his teammates better so the team could play well and win. That’s exactly what he did while playing for Syracuse Basketball, which is why we felt he was deserving, regardless of his stats, to be among Syracuse Basketball’s Top 50 Players of All-Time.
#48: Craig Forth
Forward: 2001-2005
Craig Forth was exactly the piece Syracuse needed to put it altogether in 2003. He wasn’t Carmelo Anthony, a superstar out of high school capable of great things. However, he was a decent role player who did a lot of the little things right that helped Syracuse win a national championship that year.
Forth did not have stellar statistics while playing for Syracuse. The 7-foot Forth averaged only 4.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game, according to Sports-Reference.com. However, he more than made up for his lack of basketball skills in the classroom. He was an Academic All-American in his Junior and Senior season, and made Dean’s List in all seven semesters he completed at SU, according to Cuse.com.
On the court, Forth gave everything he could. You could see him trying so hard even when he constantly made silly fouls while trying to block or alter shots. That energy and passion is why a lot of Orange fans have such respect for him. A great student academically, who gave everything he had on the floor, Forth was a key piece of the puzzle in 2003. In my opinion, the Orange couldn’t have won the National championship without him. For that reason, he belongs to be mentioned amongst the Syracuse greats.
#47: Donte Greene
Forward: 2007-2008
Donte Greene’s Syracuse Basketball career was short lived. He played one year in Orange before bolting to the NBA. Many fans were angry and upset with him for leaving early instead of staying another year. If i’m being honest, I was too, but unlike most fans I didn’t take it out on him online. Most experts would agree that Greene could definitely have used another year in Orange to become an even better player, but hindsight is 20/20, so they say.
Greene was super talented coming out of high school and showed a silky mid-range jumpshot to pair with decent three point range. He scored in bunches while in Orange, but really suffered on the defensive end. Had he stayed, he probably would have been higher up this list, but as a freshman you can only accomplish so much.
He averaged 17.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game, according to Sports-Reference.com. Standing at 6’11, Greene could have done so much more defensively considering how athletic he was, but instead that never really occurred.
It’s easy to write off Donte Greene because he only stayed one season, and was technically the best player on an NIT team. However, that would be ignoring the fact that he was a tremendous scorer and one of the best talents Syracuse has secured in the 21st century. That’s why he slots in ahead of players like Scoop Jardine and Craig Forth in our rankings.
Its a tough call putting him amongst so many other greats, but he was a special kid, with a special talent. As they say, having one season with a player is better than not at all.
#46: Tyler Lydon
Forward: 2015-2017
Most of you probably expected Tyler Lydon had to be on this list somewhere, but didn’t expect him to be this low in Syracuse Basketball’s Top 50. Lydon didn’t do anything wrong to end up at #46 in our rankings, there were just a lot more talented players ahead of him.
Sure, he was one of kind in that he could shoot three’s with ease and block shots extremely well at only 6’9. However, he fell in our rankings because, for some reason, we feel he could have been so much more.
Much like Donte Greene, he could have been something really special, but didn’t stick around long enough to really show that or develop into that. In Lydon’s case, he did spend a year longer than Greene, but the two cases just feel so similar. Of the two, we think Lydon was the better player for Syracuse Basketball if we’re comparing them head-to-head.
Lydon’s freshman year was amazing as he averaged 10.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game, according to ESPN.com. However, in his sophomore year he was sort of a letdown. The stats show he improved in many areas, but he wasn’t the star on the court we saw from him freshman year. He deferred and passed the ball to others a lot, when he should have looked for his shot.
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The one thing that is great about Lydon though was he was a great team player. Much like Scoop Jardine, he put the needs of his teammates ahead of his own interests. That was a good and bad thing for the Orange. In 2017, it just happened to be a bad thing as the Orange sufficed for an NIT berth and lost in the second round.
Lydon is talented enough to be in the Top 25 of this list we’ve compiled. However, his short-lived career along with a letdown sophomore season in Orange dropped him to 46th. Had he stayed, much like Greene, I expect he would have been Top 20 easily. I guess we’ll never know.