Syracuse Basketball: 4-star commit says Orange can be best team in ACC

Syracuse basketball has registered some sub-par regular seasons since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference from the Big East Conference during the 2013-14 campaign.

But don’t tell new 2022 commit Chris Bunch. He has lofty goals for the Orange as he and the other members of the ‘Cuse five-player 2022 cycle prepare to arrive on the Hill in about a year’s time.

The 6-foot-7 Bunch, a four-star prospect and a top-60 player across the country in his class according to 247Sports, says there is no reason why the Orange can’t rise to the top of the ACC’s pecking order.

It’s true that Syracuse basketball has a talented and promising 2022 class, buoyed by three four-star recruits and two three-star players. We’ll have to see if any current ‘Cuse players transfer after the upcoming season, and whether that leads Orange coaches to hit the transfer portal ahead of the 2022-23 stanza.

Syracuse basketball four-star commit Chris Bunch is bullish on the squad’s future.

Assuming that all five of the Orange’s 2022 commits actually make it to campus, the team will have a well-balanced group of incoming freshmen to blend with various ‘Cuse veterans.

"In a recent interview with SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister, Bunch had this to say. “I think we can really be the best team in the ACC if I’m being perfectly honest. I never really believed in the blue bloods or all that type of stuff. I’ve always believed in workers and all that type. I think if we come in, work and listen to coach (Jim) Boeheim, I don’t see why we can’t be the number one team in the ACC.”"

For Bunch’s outlook to come true, the ‘Cuse would have to reverse a multi-year trend where Syracuse basketball often has finished in the middle of the pack within the ACC’s standings.

As we detailed in a recent column, that pattern is expected to occur once again in the upcoming 2021-22 term, at least as far as pre-season prognostications go in the ACC’s media poll that got released not too long ago.

In that pre-season poll, the Orange was projected to finish at No. 7 in the league’s standings, with the top six being Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Louisville.

Bunch, a senior at the powerhouse Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, recently selected Syracuse basketball over Mike Hopkins-led Washington and Rutgers.

He is a confident young man who works hard. I like his mentality about where he’s hoping that the ‘Cuse will reside in future ACC races.

"In his interview with McAllister, Bunch added in part, “Whether I’m having a bad night or a good night, I’m always going to play as hard as I possibly can. We’re always going to win. That’s one thing about (me) is I’m going to try to bring a winning culture. It’s already been a winning culture over there but I’m going to try to bring it back.”"