In the off-season, Syracuse basketball lost six players to the transfer portal as well as guys seeking professional careers. Orange head coach Jim Boeheim had said that his team’s roster would likely see a dramatic make-over, and he was right.
With the NCAA allowing all student-athletes to transfer once and retain immediate eligibility, that led to a free-agency explosion this past spring and summer.
So the ‘Cuse saw a half-dozen guys flee Central New York, and several of them were key contributors during the 2020-21 stanza, when the Orange made it to the Sweet 16.
But even with all of those defections, ‘Cuse coaches managed to bring in three transfers of their own, along with a 2021 five-star recruit. For my money, despite a huge roster overhaul, this year’s Orange line-up is going to gel, and gel rather quickly.
Syracuse basketball players are extremely close with one another.
Let’s put this season’s Orange roster into some context. First and foremost, it’s a veteran group. There is only one freshman in forward Benny Williams.
Center Bourama Sidibe and forward Jimmy Boeheim, for example, are graduate students. Shooting guard Buddy Boeheim and forward Cole Swider are seniors. Point guard Joe Girard III, guard Symir Torrence and center Jesse Edwards are juniors.
With all of these players having competed at the collegiate level for several years, even those who are new to the Syracuse basketball system, like Cornell transfer Jimmy Boeheim, Marquette transfer Torrence and Villanova transfer Swider, shouldn’t have the same sort of growing pains that freshmen typically do.
Case in point, when the ‘Cuse won by 19 points last week in an exhibition game against Pace on the Hill, two transfers, Boeheim and Swider, led the team in scoring.
Yes, it was an exhibition contest, and this is a small sample size to be working with, however, I thought that Boeheim and Swider looked absolutely, positively comfortable out there on the floor.
A couple of other things to consider. Torrence is from the Syracuse area, and he played for the Albany City Rocks on the AAU circuit with Girard in the same cycle.
Plus, the Boeheim brothers also came up via the Albany City Rocks as it pertains to grassroots basketball. And obviously, Buddy Boeheim and Jimmy Boeheim know each other well, and Jimmy should know the ‘Cuse system pretty darn well, given head coach Jim Boeheim is his father (and Buddy’s, too).
"Also, according to cuse.com, Girard noted that the Albany City Rocks played against Swider on numerous occasions in AAU competitions. Girard added, “we all knew each other’s games. It makes it that much easier on the court, even off the court. The teams that are the closest off the court are usually the best on the court, and we have a really close group. It just makes playing with each other a lot easier.”"
We’ll have to wait and see how the 2021-22 version of Syracuse basketball fares. The roster is filled with long-range shooters. The center spot should be much improved, in my opinion.
Some Orange fans are concerned that this squad lacks athleticism. That’s fair. The 2-3 zone could be an area of concern unless all of the ‘Cuse players, including the ones new to the team, act as a cohesive unit on defense. Rebounding is another facet to monitor.
But even with a significantly overhauled roster, many of these current Syracuse basketball players haven’t had to start from the get-go forging relationships with one another in recent months.
That’s because they’ve been doing it for years, which to me bodes quite positively for the Orange’s chemistry in 2021-22.