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Syracuse Basketball: Buddy Boeheim ‘likely’ to redshirt in 2018-19

By Paul A. Esden Jr.

OMAHA, NE - MARCH 23: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange reacts from the bench against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 23, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - MARCH 23: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange reacts from the bench against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 23, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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With all the recent Syracuse basketball activity, something has slid under the radar. That’s the likelihood that Buddy Boeheim will redshirt next season.

Things are popping, locking, and dropping in Central New York. The Syracuse basketball team has locked in its’ final piece to the puzzle in Tyus Battle, which makes the 2018-19 squad uber deep and talented.

There’s obviously a lot of pros to that, but there are cons. For example where does Buddy Boeheim fit into the mix?

It’s a legitimate question and a bit of a strange one when you really think about it. I mean last season Jim Boeheim was looking to the stands to find volunteers to jump into the game with the limited roster and foul issues.

Now we’re dealing with first world problems of having too many good players? It’s a good problem to have. So let’s take a look at the depth:

Guard: Frank Howard, Tyus Battle, Howard Washington, Jalen Carey, Elijah Hughes, Buddy Boeheim.

Forwards/Centers: Oshae Brissett, Marek Dolezaj, Robert Braswell, Bourama Sidibe, Paschal Chukwu.

So Battle is entering the season as a contender for ACC player of the year and he played nearly

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every minute of every game last season. I expect him to get slightly more time to rest, but let’s be honest he’s still going to get the bulk of the minutes.

Frank Howard is returning as the starter at the point. His leap from Sophomore to Junior year was incredible, I’m expecting at the very least the same play from last season if not even more improvement.

Boeheim could simply play the same five starters from last season that got him to the Sweet 16 or he can try to mix it up. He hasn’t had that option in the 21st century. Elijah Hughes could play the small forward role for example. Sending Dolezaj to a sixth man role.

Boeheim did experiment with the three guard lineup last season, it makes even more sense this year. Obviously Brissett is starting, he could play the power forward role for the Orange.

Then at the center spot, outside of a crazy Sidibe outplaying Chukwu situation, Paschal will be the starter. So essentially SU is two deep at every position and I haven’t even mentioned Boeheim’s name yet.

In the past, Jim has stuck to a pretty tight rotation and that is determined relatively early in the season, but would that change for his own flesh and blood?

That’s the question most Syracuse fans are pondering at this point.

On one hand Boeheim could be an insurance policy if anyone gets injured and his shooting prowess could come in handy later in the season. Although I think the best option is resisting the urge to waste a year of eligibility.

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SU has an embarrassment of riches at guard, it doesn’t make sense for Buddy to play this season. We’ll see if Jim being his father will affect his usually calculating judgement. Which also means we’ll probably have to wait to see Boeheim vs Boeheim this December with Buddy and Jimmy facing off in the Carrier Dome.

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