Syracuse Basketball: No preseason love for SU from pundits means squat
By Neil Adler
Even with the announced return of point guard Judah Mintz for his sophomore year on the Hill, the Syracuse basketball roster is unlikely to receive a lot of preseason love from experts as it pertains to way-too-early top-25 rankings and placements within mock fields of 68 for the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
To that, I say, who freaking cares? I’ll add that this is no surprise whatsoever, and I’ll explain why in a second.
After the 6-foot-3 Mintz revealed not too long ago that he would withdraw his name from the 2023 NBA Draft and come back to the Orange for the 2023-24 campaign, that set the ‘Cuse roster for the upcoming season at 13 scholarship players.
It’s an exciting and intriguing roster for sure. There are a lot of athletic guards and wings on this roster. There is a ton of depth at all position groups. First-year head coach Adrian Autry and his assistants will have at their disposal many interesting and potentially potent line-up combinations.
However, Syracuse basketball does have some question marks ahead of 2023-24.
Let’s provide a little context here. Autry is in his first season as the Orange’s head coach, after replacing the Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim in early March. We won’t know until later this year how Autry & Co. will fare when games actually start getting played.
To reiterate, the 2023-24 roster that has been constructed in Central New York is versatile and oozing with potential. But that’s on paper. Over the past two seasons, Syracuse basketball has amassed a combined 33-32 overall record, missing the NCAA Tournament in both campaigns.
This off-season, the ‘Cuse lost two of its top-three scorers from a stanza ago, when the team finished at 17-15. Center Jesse Edwards transferred to West Virginia, and shooting guard Joe Girard III transferred to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference squad Clemson. Senior guard Symir Torrence and redshirt-junior forward John Bol Ajak are also gone.