Syracuse Basketball: Top candidates to contend for All-ACC, other awards

A season ago, Syracuse basketball senior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim led the conference in scoring and landed on the All-ACC first squad.

Additionally, last year, junior center Jesse Edwards received some votes for the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Most Improved Player award in the 2021-22 campaign.

Edwards, who unfortunately got injured this past February and missed a handful of games in 2021-22, had a realistic chance to capture this honor before his stanza was cut short.

As we look ahead to the 2022-23 season, which gets underway this coming November, I believe there are numerous ‘Cuse guys who could make a run at the All-ACC teams and other conference awards.

Let’s look at Syracuse basketball players who can make runs at ACC honors.

The league’s top honor is the ACC Player of the Year. Removing my Orange-colored glasses, I’m not sure any Syracuse basketball guys are going to significantly contend for this award.

Then again, the games are played on the court, so we’ll see how the 2022-23 term shakes out for the ‘Cuse. If I had to venture a guess, the top-two Orange candidates for ACC Player of the Year would probably be Edwards, who is a senior, along with fellow senior Joe Girard III, a guard.

I do believe that both Edwards and Girard are contenders for one of the three All-ACC squads. I’d add to this category forward Benny Williams, should he make a huge sophomore leap, along with freshman Judah Mintz, a 2022 four-star guard.

If Mintz ends up in head coach Jim Boeheim’s starting rotation, or is the top reserve off of the bench, and Mintz crushes things in 2022-23, he’s certainly a candidate for ACC Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, and the All-ACC Rookie team.

Mintz, by extension, also appears to be excellent on the defensive end, according to his coaches, his teammates, analysts and scouts. Therefore, I could see him as a possible candidate for the All-ACC Defensive squad.

And we absolutely should include Edwards here, too. Despite his 2021-22 campaign ending early, he was among the league leaders in blocked shots within the ACC.

So, to me, Edwards is a contender for the All-ACC Defensive team, as well as the conference’s Defensive Player of Year honor.

Some national experts believe Williams is primed for a break-out 2022-23 stanza. Therefore, I think he’s a legit candidate for the ACC’s Most Improved Player award after not playing much as a freshman.

If senior guard Symir Torrence comes off the bench, and Mintz starts, I could envision Torrence making a run at Sixth Man of the Year, assuming he puts forth a strong 2022-23 performance.

Mintz is likely the Orange’s top candidate for the All-ACC Rookie team, but maybe some of the other Orange incoming freshmen could be contenders for this unit.

It all depends on how much run Boeheim gives them. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say the two likeliest ‘Cuse contenders for the All-ACC Rookie squad, besides Mintz, are 2022 four-star wing Justin Taylor and 2022 four-star small forward Chris Bunch.

For what it’s worth, in a recent story, Isaac Trotter of 247Sports included Girard and Edwards as conference players in the mix for possible inclusion on the All-ACC first team in 2022-23.