Syracuse Basketball: Top 30 Players in School History
By Josh Peelman
Dion Waiters is probably the best sixth man to ever play for Syracuse Basketball. Highly recruited out of high school, Waiters looked to have a big role once he stepped foot on campus. The one problem for him was the Orange were stacked in their starting five. Hence, Waiters was relegated to a sixth-man role and came off the bench to be a spark-plug for the Orange.
Waiters was capable of running the point as well as the shooting guard position. When on the floor, he demanded the ball in his hands because he knew what he was capable of. He was clearly starter material, but Boeheim and his staff knew if they played him with the starters it might slow down the offense. By coming in with the second team, Waiters thrived and helped the starters get some rest.
In every way imaginable, Waiters was a star for Syracuse. He would show off his skill multiple times a game. That included, but was not limited to, driving the lane for ferocious dunks, hitting the outside shot off the dribble, hitting fadeaway jump-shots from mid-range, and constantly beating his man down the floor in transition.
In his two years with SU he averaged 9.7 points, two assists, and 1.5 steals. Though not stellar numbers, he was a star sixth man for the Orange. As a result, he won the Big East Sixth Man of the Year award in his second as a sophomore and was named to the 3rd Team All-Big East that same year.
He would be drafted in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft with the fourth overall pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers, amazing considering that he never once started a game for Syracuse Basketball. That’s how good of a talent he was, and the nation knew it.
Dion Waiters wasn’t just a one-hit-wonder, even though his time with SU was short. He stayed for two years, more than most Syracuse basketball fans expected from him coming out of high school. For that reason, combined with his stellar play, Waiters ended up higher on this list. Had he stayed longer, he very could have been in the top 10 of our rankings.