Syracuse Basketball: Chance Westry is putting in work, will be pivotal player for SU

Assuming Chance Westry is fully healthy in the 2024-25 campaign, I believe that he will prove a key contributor for Syracuse basketball in the upcoming season, due to his athleticism, defensive instincts and positional versatility on both ends of the court.

It's been a rough go so far in his collegiate tenure for the Harrisburg, Pa., native. Westry, a top-40 national prospect in the 2022 high school class, didn't play all that much as a freshman at Auburn due to an injury.

A long-time recruiting target of the 'Cuse coaching staff, Westry moved to the Orange for his sophomore season and was rated a four-star transfer prospect.

However, in the 2023-24 season, as Adrian Autry took the reins from the Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim as the Syracuse basketball head coach, the 6-foot-6, 190-pound Westry suffered a lower-body injury before this past term began, and he didn't up playing at all.

The Orange, under Autry, would go 20-12 overall in 2023-24, tallying 20 regular-season wins for the first time in a decade.

Syracuse basketball guard/wing Chance Westry is working hard to come back even stronger.

I came across some recent posts on Instagram that showed Westry hitting the gym hard to add strength. In seeing these posts, it made me hopeful that Westry will be good to go in 2024-25, but it also made me sad about what he's had to endure through his first two years of college.

Yes, it's true that injuries are a part of sports, but Westry has been dealt a particularly tough hand. However, if he's fully healthy this coming campaign, that will be monumental for the Orange, which has significantly overhauled its roster this off-season.

Seven players from the 'Cuse 2023-24 roster ended up hitting the portal, while sophomore point guard Judah Mintz is pursuing a professional career. Conversely, the team's 2024 recruiting class consists of two high school seniors and at least four college transfers.

We'll have to wait and see whether Syracuse basketball coaches add another player or two before 2024-25 commences, although Westry should be a big contributor. He may not be in the starting rotation, which would be understandable given his limited playing time in college so far.

Yet at his height and length, my assumption is that Westry could suit up at either guard spot, as well as at small forward out on the wing. To reiterate, as a highly touted prospect in high school, he was praised by national analysts and scouts for his athleticism, his playmaking for others, his versatility, and his defensive instincts, among other things.

I don't necessarily think that Westry is a huge threat from beyond the arc, but in Autry's up-tempo offense, Westry will be critical in creating deflections and steals on defense, and getting out in transition for easy buckets.

What's more, similar to Mintz and sophomore guard J.J. Starling, I believe that Westry will prove adept at driving into the lane, finishing around the rim through contact, and dishing to open teammates on the perimeter.

Last week, Georgia State junior guard Lucas Taylor, a four-star transfer, said he would play his senior year at the 'Cuse, giving the Orange a backcourt that runs at least six players deep.

If I had to guess, I'd pencil in Starling and transfer Jaquan Carlos, a junior point guard from Hofstra, as the Syracuse basketball starters at the onset of 2024-25 in the backcourt.

Yet assuming Westry is at 100 percent, or extremely close to it, I envision him collecting sizable minutes in Autry's rotation, as a key reserve at point guard/combo guard and at small forward. My fingers are crossed that all the hard work Westry is putting in will pay off. This young man deserves it.