Syracuse Basketball: Top 30 Players in School History
By Josh Peelman
John Wallace was the kind of player any college program would want when he joined Syracuse in 1992. He was a 6’8 forward with lots of potential and a nice mid-range game. While at Syracuse he would also develop a nice 3-point game as well as a low-post scoring arsenal to match.
His freshman year he was immediately put into the starting lineup and would go on to average 11.1 points, and 7.6 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game, according to Sports-reference.com. He would garner All-Big East Rookie team honors that year, according to Orangehoops.org.
His second season in Orange, Wallace found a way to get to the rim more often and drew more fouls. This led to an increase in his free throw numbers and points per game. He would average 15 points, nine rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game and shoot 76% from the line. That increase in production earned him a spot on the All-Big East Second Team.
In his junior season, he would show off the three-point shot he had been working so hard on developing as well as the ability to pass more accurately. Along with Lawrence Moten and Luke Jackson down low, Wallace would have a much better season. Wallace would make the First Team All-Big East while averaging 16.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks a game.
After that fantastic junior season, he would be a projected high first-round pick, but would instead opt to come back to Syracuse to star as a senior. As a result, his senior season was his best in Orange.
Wallace would lead the team in scoring in 30 of the 38 games they played, make the All-Big East First Team, and rise up the Syracuse record books in multiple categories. He would average an outstanding 22.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.7 blocks a game and shoot 42% from three.
In addition, he would lead Syracuse to the national title game against Kentucky. Wallace would keep the game close until the final minutes before fouling out with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Syracuse would go to lose, but it still didn’t take away from how much Wallace contributed to Syracuse’s success that season. His tremendous performance in the NCAA Tournament also garnered him NCAA All-Tournament Team honors.
Wallace would go onto have a decent NBA career, but his play while at Syracuse would be his crowning achievement. He sits high on multiple all-time lists for Syracuse Basketball: 3rd in scoring, 3rd in rebounds, 4th in career field goals made, 3rd in career free throws made, and 4th in three-point percentage, 4th in minutes played, and 7th in blocked shots, according to Orangehoops.org and Cuse.com.
John Wallace will be long remembered as a player who had great scoring ability but also was a tremendous teammate. The fact that he stayed four years really helps his legacy as well as cements him as one of the greatest of all-time at Syracuse University.