Syracuse Basketball: Dishing out player grades, good and bad, for 2021-22

Buddy Boeheim, senior shooting guard

Buddy averaged 19.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while connecting on 40.6 percent from the field, 88.4 percent from the free-throw line, and 34.1 percent from beyond the arc.

He often would be double-teamed by opponents, and he didn’t always get good, clean looks. Buddy would certainly make his share of tough shots, but I also think sometimes he would take bad shots. Part of that stems from other guys on the roster not creating shots for themselves as much as we all would have liked.

Buddy isn’t a great defensive player by any means, but I think he was no worse in 2021-22 than any other guy on the roster. He led the ‘Cuse in scoring, and he also paced the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring during the regular stanza, while being selected to the All-ACC first unit. Not too shabby for a young man who ended his tenure on the Hill within the top 15 on the Orange’s all-time scoring list.
Grade: B

Cole Swider, senior forward

A transfer from Villanova, Swider averaged 13.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest, while shooting 44.0 percent from the field, 86.6 percent from the charity stripe, and 41.1 percent from downtown.

He’s not the most athletic of players, and Cole struggled sometimes on defense, but after a slow start offensively, he really heated up toward the end of the season, putting up several monster games.

Jim Boeheim would often speak about his desire for Cole to more consistently create his own shots, and I do hope that Swider returns for a fifth season that is allowed by the NCAA due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Grade: B-