Syracuse Basketball: Who will lead Orange in assists this coming season?

With six Syracuse basketball players having left the Hill this past off-season, either via the transfer portal or to pursue professional aspirations, the Orange has a vastly remade roster heading into the 2021-22 campaign, which is about to get underway.

The ‘Cuse brought in three veterans via the transfer portal, and it has one five-star recruit from the 2021 recruiting cycle. In this article, we’re taking a look at which Orange players we think might pace the squad in assists this term.

Just for some context, according to statistics on ESPN’s Web site, junior point guard Joe Girard III and senior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim are the only returning guys who put up a decent number of assists last year, with Girard at 3.5 a game and Boeheim at 2.6 per contest.

Now, that certainly doesn’t mean other returning players can’t get into the action in this category. They simply didn’t get a ton of run a stanza ago.

Syracuse basketball could have multiple players average at least a few assists per game.

Even though they were only exhibition encounters, I thought that the ‘Cuse roster did a nice job of moving the ball around in recent blow-out wins over Pace and Le Moyne on the Hill.

Head coach Jim Boeheim echoed those sentiments, saying in his post-game press conference after the romp over Le Moyne that his players are doing a good job of finding open shooters.

I feel like, as a team, Syracuse basketball is going to rack up a lot of dimes this coming season, because players seem to be unselfish, passing up good shots in favor of great ones. Of course, some of this hinges on whether a perimeter-heavy offense connects at a strong clip from beyond the arc.

In any event, I foresee Girard leading the team in assists throughout 2021-22. He appears to be making a concerted effort to find forwards and centers in the paint, and Girard has two fellow sharp-shooters on the roster in Boeheim and senior forward Cole Swider.

If he earns a sizable amount of run, I think that junior guard Symir Torrence could absolutely place right behind Girard in terms of assists. Boeheim should also get some assists, because of all the other shooters within the ‘Cuse line-up.

From an assists perspective, the forwards are interesting. Freshman Benny Williams is so unselfish, and a tremendous passer, that I could see him being in the top-four on the roster as far as assists go.

If graduate student Jimmy Boeheim is focused on driving to the hoop, and then either going up to score or dishing to open shooters on the perimeter, he could grab some assists.

Swider, too, could obtain a few dimes, because of his ability to get into the lane and then have the option to kick the ball out to Buddy Boeheim and Girard.

The two main centers, junior Jesse Edwards and sophomore Frank Anselem, probably won’t record as many assists as the guards, wings and forwards, but who really knows. Anything’s possible, right?

One thing I can say here is that Syracuse basketball is an unselfish group in 2021-22, and the team will prove really fun to watch and cheer on.