When it comes to Syracuse basketball's free-throw shooting as a collective unit in the upcoming 2026-27 campaign, there's nowhere to go but up for the Orange.
I hope.
In the 2025-26 season, when the 'Cuse went 15-17 overall, SU was dreadful from the charity stripe. As a team, Syracuse basketball made just 64.8 percent from the free-throw line, and that was No. 357 nationally out of 361 full-time Division I hoops programs.
For a bit of context, in the two other seasons under then-head coach Adrian Autry, the Orange connected on 72.1 percent from the free-throw line in 2023-24 and 70.5 percent in 2024-25.
Another former 'Cuse player, Gerry McNamara, is now at the squad's helm, and SU's first-year head coach and his staff are putting together a 2026-27 roster that should - I repeat, should - be much better from the charity stripe next season.
Syracuse basketball's free-throw shooting woes last season were a hot-button topic among fans.
A big issue for the Orange in 2025-26, when it relates to free-throw shooting, is that the team's guards, by and large, were bad from the charity stripe. It's not uncommon for power forwards and centers to be pedestrian from the free-throw line, but when good overall shooters such as Nate Kingz and Tyler Betsey don't even hit from 65 percent at the stripe, that's a problem.
Last season, among SU's main rotational players, only two guys - Donnie Freeman and Naithan George - made at least 75 percent from the free-throw line.
For 2026-27, Syracuse basketball has 10 primary rotational players so far. Here is who they are, and what they shot from the free-throw line this past stanza:
Ryan Moesch, a 2026 four-star point guard from Central New York
I couldn't find any specific stats for Moesch at the charity stripe, but he's a good shooter
Mark Morano Mahmutovic, a 2026 four-star wing from Slovenia
75.6 percent
Abdramane Siby, a 2026 center from Mali
76.9 percent
Freshman guard Kiyan Anthony
62.8 percent
Freshman forward Sadiq White Jr.
51.3 percent
Sophomore guard Aiden Tobiason, a four-star transfer from Temple
80.0 percent
Junior guard Garwey Dual, a four-star transfer from McNeese State
76.4 percent
Sophomore guard Gavin Doty, a four-star transfer from Siena
85.8 percent
Junior power forward/center Tasman Goodrick, a three-star transfer from Siena
58.3 percent
Redshirt sophomore center Luke Wilson, a four-star transfer from Appalachian State
56.7 percent
Of these 10 players, five of them hit on at least 75 percent, and that doesn't include Moesch. It's important to acknowledge, though, that comparing SU's 2026-27 roster, as it currently stands, with the 2025-26 roster isn't a perfect science, by any means. Some guys on each roster had way more attempts than others.
Still, if players such as Anthony, White, Goodrick and Wilson can make improvements at the charity stripe, when you combine them with the others above, that should make for a better free-throw shooting unit in 2026-27.
We all know that in 2025-26, Syracuse basketball lost some games in large part due to poor free-throw shooting. It was frustrating, to say the least. Hopefully, that won't transpire in 2026-27.
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