Syracuse Basketball: Thank you, Marek Dolezaj, for being such a class-act

Syracuse basketball senior power forward/center Marek Dolezaj revealed on social media a few days ago that he is going to depart the Hill and pursue a career in the professional ranks.

His tenure in Central New York may have just ended, but already he’s one of my favorite all-time Orange players. And it’s not even close.

Dolezaj, a native of Bratislava, Slovakia, had the option to return to the ‘Cuse for another season, as the NCAA is allowing all college basketball players to have an extra stanza of eligibility amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Naturally, myself and a bevy of other Orange fans out there had hoped that Dolezaj would come back to Syracuse basketball for one more run, but I’m not surprised at all about his decision. He’s had a terrific four-year career for the ‘Cuse, and I have no doubt that Dolezaj will shine at the next level.

https://twitter.com/MarekDolezaj/status/1379873985568124929

In his time with the Orange, the team went to three Big Dances in four years, including two journeys to the Sweet 16, the most recent of which occurred just a couple of weeks ago.

This past March Madness, Syracuse basketball knocked off No. 6 seed San Diego State in the round of 64 and No. 3 seed West Virginia in the round of 32. The Orange would then fall to eventual Final Four participant Houston in the regional semi-finals.

Syracuse basketball senior big man Marek Dolezaj leaves an indelible mark on the program.

Dolezaj’s importance to the ‘Cuse over the years, and particularly in the last two seasons, stretched way beyond points scored. He is an exceptional passer and boasts tremendous court vision.

He rebounds well, makes his teammates better, was one of the best free-throw shooters in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the 2020-21 campaign, and has a grit and toughness about him that is so, so admirable.

How many times did Dolezaj take a charge, in which a much bigger player absolutely steamrolled him, but yet Dolezaj would bounce right back up? I’m telling you, for Dolezaj’s versatility and glue-guy status, we may not see another Syracuse basketball player quite like him for a long time – or ever again.

According to a press release posted on cuse.com, Dolezaj appeared in 131 games and started 83 of them. Despite having a broken finger for part of 2020-21, Dolezaj gutted it out and played through the pain.

As a senior, he tallied 9.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per contest, while connecting on 54.4 percent from the field and 85.3 percent from the charity stripe.

In 2020-21, the Orange would wrap things up at 18-10 and ranked No. 25 in the final Coaches top-25 poll. Throughout the recently concluded stanza, Dolezaj did all the little things that don’t always show up in the stat sheet, and head coach Jim Boeheim called Dolezaj the squad’s most important or valuable player on more than one occasion.

I wholeheartedly agree with Boeheim. And I wholeheartedly want to thank Marek for a wonderful Syracuse basketball career, one in which he displayed pure class, humility, talent and unselfishness.