Syracuse Basketball: Top 10 three-point shooters in history
Honorable Mentions
- Andrew White III
- James Southerland
- Joseph Girard III
- Lawrence Moten
- Scoop Jardine
- Todd Burgan
- Tyler Lydon
- Tyus Battle
All of these players just missed the criteria for similar reasons. For Lydon and White, too short of time in the program wasn’t enough to cut it. I had both of them inside my top ten the last time I did this ranking, but a few years removed and perhaps the recency bias wore off.
White had one of the best three-point shooting seasons in Syracuse basketball history, but it’s tough to put him in over guys who wore the Orange for multiple years. White’s 112 threes made in 2017 would’ve put him on pace to break the Syracuse record, but his only year in town was his senior season.
Lydon spent two years with the Orange program and as I eluded to in my previous ranking, he is quite possibly the best stretch-4 shooter from long-range Syracuse has ever had. Lydon hit exactly 49 threes in each of his two seasons.
For Girard III, shooting percentage is the issue. He may very well crack the top ten when it’s all set and done, but 32.8% from deep in his short career is brutal. If we’re going by how far back he can hit them, it’s a different story, but I need to see more consistency out of Girard.
Moten falls into the same category as Girard. The all-time leader in points scored in an Orange uniform, Moten also ranks eighth in threes made. However, just 31.6% in his career from downtown doesn’t do any favors. If we’re talking scoring, Moten’s right there at the top. Put purely as a shooter, it isn’t enough.
Battle, Burgan and Southerland fall into the unfortunate category of having most of the criteria, but just too tough of competition.
If Battle stayed one more year, he likely would have finished top five in career threes made at Syracuse. However, he ranks tenth and was really known more for his mid-range game. I guess that ranking may need to come next.
Burgan played every year with Marius Janulis, forming perhaps the most deadly combo the Orange has arguably ever had from beyond the arc. However, he just missed the cut, largely based on being outside the top ten in threes made and a percentage of less than 36%.
Southerland was a fantastic spot-up shooter, but was largely one-dimensional, with a less than stellar ability to pull up from three. Southerland was lights out his senior season, but it was also the only year he hit even more than 40 threes, making it tough to put him above guys who were key components in multiple seasons.
Finally, Scoop Jardine has to get a mention here. Jardine was pass first and drive first before anything else, yet still sits 21st all-time in threes made. He tried becoming a big shooter his junior year when he took 4.5 attempts from three per game. He wasn’t half bad, averaging 36.4% for his career, and deserved at least a mention for it being the third part of his skillset.