Syracuse Basketball: Top 30 Players in School History
By Josh Peelman
Jonny Flynn is right up there in terms of the best point guards Syracuse has ever had. He got the nod over Michael Carter Williams in our rankings because of one reason: heart. Jonny Flynn played with passion and for the love of the game. Every-time he took the court you could see it. His smile was contagious as was his unselfishness with the basketball.
Though he was listed at 6’0 he looked a lot smaller than that. His height did not stop him from making a huge impact while at Syracuse. In fact, I like to think he played better because of it.
In his freshman year, he started all 35 games he played in, according to Orangehoops.org. In his first college game, he showed he was someone to be reckoned with by scoring 28 points, breaking the freshman single-game scoring record for points in a game set by the great Carmelo Anthony who had 27. In addition, he would score 15.7 points a game and dish out 5.3 assists.
That season he would also pick up multiple accolades: Co-Rookie of the Year in the Big East, Honorable Mention All-Big East, and the All-Rookie Team. Despite all that, Flynn had an even better sophomore year. He would raise his averages to 17.4 points, 6.7 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game.
In his sophomore campaign, Flynn would really make a name for himself. His most notable moment came against UConn in the six overtime game in the Big East Tournament. In that game, he would play 67 of a possible 70 minutes, score 35 points and go 16-of-16 from the free-throw line. What’s even more impressive is that he played all 30 minutes of overtime, which stretched way longer than that after timeouts, commercials, fouls, and intermissions are considered.
After the season Flynn was drafted 4th overall in the NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. His NBA career was short-lived, but his real legacy was how smoothly he operated at the point for Syracuse and was just so unselfish. He played with so much heart, and there was hardly ever a time he wasn’t having fun out there on the court. It’s for that reason he is so beloved by Orange fans everywhere and will be for years to come.