Syracuse Basketball: Top 30 Players in School History

Brandon Triche may be my favorite player on this list. He was a hometown kid who went to J-D, also known as Jamesville-Dewitt High school, who chose to play at home in front of his biggest fans.  When he chose SU to play college ball, Syracuse fans were excited. He didn’t let the Orange down.

Though not a flashy scorer, Triche was a solid combo guard, mostly playing point guard for Syracuse. He started every game he played in and was a calm and patient force for the Orange at the point.

Triche’s career numbers at Syracuse aren’t overly impressive. In fact, most would look at his average of 10.6 points and three assists per game and figure he was just a role player. However, they couldn’t be more wrong. Triche may not have had the numbers, but his leadership and ability to hit free throws led Syracuse to much success.

During his four years at Syracuse, he led the Orange to four NCAA Tournament appearances. He led them to the Sweet 16 as a freshman and the NCAA Second Round as a sophomore. As a junior, Triche and the Orange went 34-3, were the Big East regular-season champions, and reached the Elite Eight. In his final year, the Orange made it all the way to the Final Four. If that’s not success at the highest level, I don’t know what is.

These achievements by Triche and the Syracuse Basketball team just go to show that stats don’t tell the whole story. Without Brandon Triche, there is no guarantee the Orange would have gone as deep as they did most of those years.

Despite not being a high scorer, he managed to climb as high as 17th on the all-time scoring list for SU. But his impact was far more than that. Triche may not be the most remembered player in SU history since he wasn’t a star. However, he made up for it in his leadership that helped guide the Orange to high heights time and time again.