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SalSports.com |
The State of Syracuse University Basketball
By Sal Capaccio
www.SalSports.com
The brackets for the national tournament have been announced.
And once again, I, along with thousands of my fellow Syracuse University
basketball fans around the nation, are utterly disappointed to not
see our school's name appear on the screen. The difference is this year,
as opposed to last year at this time, it did not come as a surprise. We
weren't expecting our team to make it in to the field of 65. That's sad, if
not embarrassing, to write.
Of course, I was really frustrated over what happened in the first round of the
Big East Tournament against Villanova. A game that, if this team had won, would
have probably put them on the correct side of the discussion considering what
had transpired with other "bubble" teams over the past week. But more than
being frustrated, I actually found myself shaking my head and wondering...."what
happened to this program?" and "will we ever regain the status we enjoyed as
recently as four or five years ago?" Because the fact is, as much as it sucks to
admit it, the Syracuse basketball program has become very average very quickly.
Consider this:
--This is the first time SU has missed the tourney two consecutive seasons
since the 1981 and 1982 seasons;
--The Orange have TWO wins in the tourney since winning the National
Championship in 2003. Counting this season, that's TWO NCAA TOURNAMENT WINS OVER
THE LAST FIVE YEARS!
Statistics like that are what get coaches fired at some schools. But, of course,
those would be schools with very high expectations. Schools that have built
programs that view two NCAA wins in five years as unacceptable.
I am in no way suggesting the school should make a change now and replace Jim
Boeheim with his heir-apparent, Mike Hopkins. As a matter of fact, I think Coach
Boeheim and his staff may have done their best coaching job in years this year,
despite the final results. With the injuries they incurred, coupled with the
Scoop Jardine suspension, having to manage a team playing with only seven
regulars in a league like the Big East and still remaining competitive was not
easy.
Also, this staff has done terrific job recruiting the past three off-seasons,
including next year's incoming class.
However, all that being said, something's just not right within the program. And
something needs to change or be fixed. I just can't quite put my finger on what
it is. Is it something within the culture of the program? Something within the
school itself in relation to the program? Is it something with the kids
themselves who are being brought in?
What really sticks out to me, and is really bothersome, other than the lack of
tournament appearances and the underachieving record, is the high amount of
defections the program has suffered over the past few seasons. Josh Wright, Mike
Jones, Devin Brennan-McBride, Louie McCroskey, Billy Edelin, and Dayshawn Wright
are several of the names who had started their basketball careers at SU, then
transferred, were kicked off, couldn't hold up their grades, or had another of a
myriad of reasons for not finishing at Syracuse.
At this point, considering this recent history, looking at the current roster,
adding in Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins once again, and then factoring in the
incoming freshman class (including the highly-touted Mookie Jones), it will be
of absolutely no surprise to me if and when two or three of this current group
decides there will not be enough playing time for them to accept and decides to
transfer, as well.
Look at the programs that have sustained success year-in and year-out. The
programs that don't HOPE to get to the Elite Eight and beyond, but the ones who
EXPECT to do so......Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, etc.. They may have a few
players leave for various reasons every year, but the reason they are always at
the very top of the college basketball world almost every single season is
because they not only recruit the best players, but they keep them, as well.
Those programs reload, they don't rebuild. When they lose players to graduation
or the NBA, someone is already there to take his place. Kids come in, even the
most highly-recruited kids, they learn to have a role, they develop as they
play, and they contribute to their program's successes over a two, three, or
even a four-year period.
Lately at Syracuse, it's a crapshoot. Promising recruiting classes are too often
followed by disappointing seasons. Disappointing seasons are followed by
defections. Defections are followed by lack of chemistry and more help needed.
Then the whole process starts over again.
I've already witnessed the football program get pushed aside, neglected, and
become an afterthought.
I can't accept that with the basketball program, too.