Syracuse Basketball: That time Kevin Durant almost joined the Orange

Did you know Kevin Durant almost joined the Syracuse basketball squad? Here are the intriguing details and what that could’ve meant for the Orange.

Throughout March and April, the CBS Sports Network aired some of the best NCAA Basketball Championships of years past.

It’s been the strategy during this unforeseen year that 2020 has provided. So when Syracuse basketball found out that their 2003 title win over Roy Williams and Kansas would be re-aired on April 5, they did what Syracuse does.

The Orange faithful held a Facebook Live watch party where fans could tune in to see players and coaches from past and present. Many guests tuned in, included famed Syracuse alumni Mike Tirico and Pete Thamel, to share some of their stories with Coach Jim Boeheim, Carmelo Anthony, and Gerry McNamara among others in a Zoom video call.

Of course, the many topics of discussion would be points of emphasis during the game.

Boeheim would occasionally throw shots at the players – now all in their mid to late 30s – for things they did wrong during the game. Jabs would be thrown amongst the former teammates, and even back to Boeheim himself, who could only chuckle some of them off.

And from time to time, other stories would be brought back up, including Boeheim’s famous claim of interrupting Rick Pitino’s honeymoon to bring him along as his first assistant coach and propel the Syracuse basketball program to what it is today.

However, one story – of what could have been – topped everything else.

According to Boeheim, had Syracuse assistant, Troy Weaver, never left to take a job in the NBA the following season, current NBA Superstar Kevin Durant may have been headed to Syracuse.  Boeheim and Weaver didn’t go into depth about that topic, but it’s definitely something to wonder about what could have been.

"According to Nate Mink from Syracuse.com, “Weaver was a recruiting maven in the Baltimore-D.C., area and recruited Anthony to Syracuse. Weaver had mentioned in the chat that many in the region thought Anthony would go to Maryland, as the Terrapins recently won a national championship in 2002.”"

This alone sparks some type of debate that if Weaver could convince Anthony to come from Mid-Atlantic Baltimore to snowy Syracuse, then perhaps Kevin Durant wasn’t as much of a long shot as some people may think.

Of course, Durant ended up playing his lone year with the Texas Longhorns, and according to his 247sports.com profile, Syracuse wasn’t in the mix. However, with a guy like Weaver, who could have convinced Durant to follow in Anthony’s footsteps, it leaves us with a lot of questions about how that 2006-07 Syracuse lineup could have looked.

For that season alone, it could have changed the roster dramatically.

Attributing all information to basketball-reference.com, that Syracuse roster was already extremely talented.

Led by Demetris Nichols’ 18.9 points per game, the Orange also saw a lot of production from then-sophomore guard Eric Devendorf, who backed him up with 14.8 ppg of his own.

After that, the scoring went down, but guys like Paul Harris, Terrence Roberts, Darryl Watkins, and Andy Rautins were key components of the main core of six guys who had no player less than 6-foot-4. Adding Durant to that zone would have worked out like a charm.

After all, ‘Durantula’s’ length would have terrorized opponents looked to score on the patented Syracuse 2-3 zone. Past that, Nichols’ senior leadership, while playing the same position as Durant, would have made for a more than sufficient one-two punch, and may have helped in Durant’s development (not that he needed much of course).

The Orange were snubbed from the NCAA Tournament that year, even after a 22-11 (10-6 Big East) record going into ‘Selection Sunday’. It should go without saying that Durant not only would have led that team to the NCAA Tournament appearance but may have even made speculated they would’ve been contenders for another National Championship.

To go even further, landing Durant, who was ranked inside the top-five in practically every major recruiting website, could have convinced other top stars to join him in Central New York.

Other top-notch recruits that season included Greg Oden, Ty Lawson, and many more. Durant’s star power could have attracted another highly touted recruit to come along to Syracuse, leading to what could have been an extremely stacked roster.

Of course, Durant to Syracuse may have created an endless amount of ripple effects that could’ve changed the course of history on the hill. 

It goes without saying that if Durant, arguably the *second best one-and-done player in college basketball history (we all know who number one is), would have landed in Syracuse, it could have set the stage for a one-and-done type of recruitment at Syracuse moving forward.

Carmelo’s lone year with the Orange led to an influx of highly ranked guys wanting to dress for Syracuse, so by having Durant to their name too, the program could have changed drastically.

Of course, all of this is hypothetical, but it’s fun to think about how that really could have changed the landscape for Syracuse and all of college basketball. However, let’s be real. Can anyone really replace Carmelo and that 2003 Championship team?