Syracuse Basketball: Two Orange centers ‘light-years away’ from last year

Despite struggles at the center position in recent years, I am optimistic that the Syracuse basketball centers will prove much better during the 2021-22 campaign.

The Orange has four centers on its roster. Graduate student Bourama Sidibe, who was injured for much of the previous stanza, junior Jesse Edwards, sophomore Frank Anselem and redshirt sophomore John Bol Ajak.

I get the sense that Edwards will receive the starting nod, but what’s interesting to me is whether the veteran Sidibe, or the athletic Anselem, who has tremendous upside, will serve as the primary back-up.

According to various media reports that I’ve read of late, Syracuse basketball coaches do anticipate their centers being improved in 2021-22.

Head coach Jim Boeheim was not shy in numerous press conferences a term ago when he said that his young centers, in particular, just weren’t ready to produce a lot. I’m hopeful this isn’t the case as the upcoming campaign is nearly here.

Syracuse basketball will have solid contributions at the center spot this year.

Last Friday, at the Orange’s annual media day, Boeheim heaped some praise on his centers, saying they’re improved, adding strength and should contribute in 2021-22.

Per a tweet from Donna Ditota of Syracuse.com, quoting Boeheim, Edwards and Anselem “are light-years away from where they were last year.” That is unbelievably great to hear.

In the team’s recent scrimmage, Anselem tallied an impressive 16 points, including a half-dozen dunks, while Edwards collected 10 points, per a cuse.com press release.

Anselem went toe to toe with freshman forward Benny Williams in the dunk competition, as each participant threw down some spectacular dunks.

As we recently detailed, Edwards has gotten stronger and is likely to start at center. From what I can tell, Anselem has added strength, too.

When Edwards and Anselem are on the court during the regular season, I hope they are assertive and aggressive. They need to anchor the 2-3 zone and rebound with precision.

That being said, it’s not just on the centers to hit the glass. The Orange’s three primary forwards have to do so as well, and the same can be said for the ‘Cuse guards, including the presumed starters, junior Joe Girard III at point guard and senior Buddy Boeheim at shooting guard.

Edwards may be the main guy at center, at least at the beginning of the 2021-22 term. However, something tells me that Anselem may earn some quality minutes as well.