sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to National Bow Tie Day!
Sure, you could buy and wear a clip-on bow tie to celebrate the day, but if there ever was a day to finally take the time and teach yourself how to tie your own bow tie, this is it. It may take a little effort, but here is a video and directions to help you succeed. If you already are an avid bow tie wearer, this day is especially for you! Many have celebrated wearing a bow tie in the past, so you are not alone.
SU News
Syracuse men’s basketball recruits to watch for in 2019-20 (DO; Dabbundo)
Syracuse men’s basketball just returned from preseason exhibitions in Italy, where four freshmen had their first collegiate in-game experience. The Orange open their season on Nov. 6 against Virginia, but they are still working to complete their 2020 recruiting class.
The Orange don’t have many spots to fill. There are currently no seniors on the scholarship list, and with 11 scholarship players, plus key contributor Buddy Boeheim who doesn’t count as a scholarship player because his father is a University employee, SU’s Class of 2020 recruits will be smaller than previous seasons. Because of the Orange’s five-man incoming freshman class and one verbally committed player — Woody Newton — for 2020, SU has just one of its 13 scholarships remaining to hand out.
Newton, a four-star recruit, verbally committed to the Orange in June. Newton is a 6-foot-8, 190-pound forward from Mt. Zion Prep (Maryland), and is ranked No. 91 in the nation by 247Sports. Newton was primarily recruited by SU assistant coach Allen Griffin and associate head coach Adrian Autry.
Newton is described as one of the top defensive players in his class, and shined defensively during the Nike EYBL event in Dallas while playing with Team Takeover in June. During his junior season at Mt. Zion Prep, Newton played 30 minutes a game, averaging 14.2 points.
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https://insidetheloudhouse.com/2019/08/27/syracuse-basketball-orange-offers-elite-2022-guard-zion-cruz/ (itlh; Adler)
The Syracuse basketball program has doled out a scholarship offer to Zion Cruz, one of the premier prospects in the class of 2022. Here are the details.
The Syracuse basketball coaching staff has offered a scholarship to Zion Cruz, who is deemed one of the best players in the 2022 class.
According to a report by Mike Waters of Syracuse.com, the Orange offered a schollie to the five-star Cruz late last week while he was on the ‘Cuse campus.
The 6-foot-3 Cruz, described as either a point guard or a shooting guard depending on the recruiting service, currently attends Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City, N.J.
Per the Waters’ article, Cruz suits up on the AAU circuit for the PSA Cardinals, a crew that is based in the Bronx, N.Y.
At this juncture, ESPN.com slots him at No. 20 overall in the class of 2022, as well as fourth at his position and first in the state of New Jersey. and 247Sports don’t presently have Cruz rated, but that will undoubtedly change since he’s only about to enter his sophomore year at Hudson Catholic Regional High School.
In reviewing various recruiting Web sites, it appears that Cruz holds offers from a handful of other schools, including 2019 Final Four participant Auburn, Bryant, former Big East Conference foes Connecticut, Rutgers, Seton Hall and St. John’s, and Pac-12 Conference member UCLA.
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https://cnycentral.com/sports/college/watch-adrian-autry-live-with-niko-tamurian-at-new-york-state-fair (cnycentral.com; video; Tamurian)
Syracuse Basketball just finished up a trip to Italy, a prime opportunity for the Orange newcomers to get accustomed to the college game and build chemistry with their teammates.
On Tuesday at the New York State Fair, Orange Associate Head Coach Adrian Autry visited the CNY Central booth and did a live interview with Niko Tamurian.
Click the video player to watch Adrian's thoughts on the season ahead and how the Orange emerged from Italy.
http://dailyorange.com/2019/08/look-su-athletics-financial-data-2017-18-season/ (DO; Crane)
This Saturday’s season opener against Liberty kicks off the 2019 season for the sport that has generated the most revenue in recent history for SU Athletics.
Information released in April regarding financial data from two academic years ago, July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, from Equity in Athletics Data Analysis (EADA) shows that Syracuse reported $96,722,491 in total revenue across all sports. Almost half of that came from football.
Additionally, SU Athletics’ average annual institutional salary per head coach increased as well, with men’s salaries rising $156,572 to $988,648 and women’s increasing by $26,584 to reach $238,457. For the women, that was more than five times greater than the increase from 2015-16 to 2016-17. For the men, it was a change in direction after that number had decreased approximately $8,000 the year before.
Here’s a look at the financial data from the 2017-18 season for football and men’s and women’s basketball, three major sports at SU.
Untitled infographic by Karleigh Henry - Infogram
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https://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2019/8/27/20834660/when-it-comes-to-coaches-like-programs-the-acc-stands-apart-basketball-krzyzewski-williams-bennett (DBR; King)
One of the best summer features is the Candid Coaches thing over at CBSSports.com
Basically they just promise anonymity and the coaches usually let it fly. This time it’s about what conference has the best coaches. We’re chauvinists obviously, but that’s really not much of a challenge. With Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams and Tony Bennett, the ACC is way above anyone else - and the other coaches aren't exactly pikers either.
https://accsports.com/acc-news/francesco-badocchi-leaves-uva-basketball-program/ (accsports.com; Geisinger)
Tony Bennett announced on Monday that redshirt sophomore forward Francesco Badocchi will leave Virginia’s basketball program, citing personal reasons. Badocchi, who appeared in 11 games last season, will remain enrolled at the university, though.
The 6-foot-7 Badocchi will forever be a member of Virginia’s 2019 title team; during the season, he scored five points in only 28 minutes of action.
After not finding much playing time in Virginia’s crowded frontcourt last season, Badocchi was expected to have a larger role this season. That, however, is no longer the case. (Considering how good Virginia’s staff is at player development, though, Badocchi could’ve been an interesting player to keep an eye on this season.)
Initially a 3-star recruit in the 2017 class, Badocchi was viewed as more of a project player; hence why he redshirted during the 2017-18 season. Just before the start of the 2018-19 season, Badocchi took a leave of absence from the program — for undisclosed medical reasons. He later returned during the season.
Virginia still has plenty of depth in the frontcourt, though. With Mamadi Diakite back, there are plenty of lineup combinations for UVA to access — along with stretch 5 Jay Huff and the ubiquitous Braxton Key.
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NCAA Basketball: 5 most unwatchable teams for 2019-20 season (bustingbrackets.com; Hastings)
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No. 5 – Texas Tech
Since Chris Beard took over as the Red Raiders head coach in 2016, he has enjoyed nothing but success, elevating his squad to heights never seen in school history, including it’s first-ever National Championship appearance last year. Because of this, Beard was awarded AP Coach of the Year honors and a 6- year 35 million dollar contract extension to go along with it.
While there’s no way I can doubt Beard’s accomplishments as head coach, it’s the way he got them that bothers me. According to KenPom, Beard’s defense posted the lowest defensive efficiency ever (since it became a stat 18 years ago), holding opponents to a projected 84 points over 100 possesions. And while that’s an incredible achievement, Beard’s Raiders leave much to be desired on the offense side of the ball.
Ranking inside the bottom 120 teams in the nation in 3 out of the 5 watchability stats (Percent of Points from 3 Pointers, Assists Per Field Goals Made, and Pace of Play), it seemed like Beard’s idea of offense was to give his star Jarret Culver the ball and rely on him to make something happen (Culver lead the Big 12 in Usage Percentage). With Culver off to the NBA, you would think Beard would implement a more team-oriented style of offense. But you’d be wrong.
In his lone season as head coach at Tech without Culver, Beard’s squad still finished in the bottom 150 in the nation in Assists Per Field Goals Made and bottom 50 in Pace of Play. Chris Beard relies on his defense to win basketball games and while he has certainly been successful in doing that, you can rely on me not watching his squad play.
No. 4 – Florida
What an offseason for the Gators. After a very successful first four years as Florida head coach, Mike White went HAM on the 2019 recruiting trail. Landing not one, but two five-star recruits in Scottie Lewis and Tre Mann, White has Florida basketball fans partying like it’s 2007. However, while their team may reach the same heights as the mid-2000’s squad, they sure as heck won’t be watchable.
Since White took over the program in 2015, their defense has been elite, but Florida has ranked in the bottom half in the nation in Assists Per Field Goals Made and Percent of Points from the 3 every year. Like Beard, Coach White relies on his defense to win him games and puts little time into teaching offense, with his only scheme seeming to be putting the ball in his most talented player’s hands and letting them go 1 on 5.
We should see even more possessions ending in isolation with the additions of Lewis and Mann and while his squad will rank high in offensive efficiency (because of the talent of those two players), they should once again rank towards the bottom in assists and 3’s. If you’re a fan of the Jordan and Kobe iso era of basketball, you’ll like watching this team. But, if you’re looking for innovation and any sort of creativity on offense, I’d strongly advise against it.
No. 3 – Baylor
Much like my least favorite coach of all time, Jim Boeheim, the Bears’ head coach, Scott Drew, has enjoyed a long and fruitful career based off a gimmick defense. Using a matchup 1-3-1 zone, Drew has sustained a successful 16-year career at Baylor that includes eight NCAA Tournament appearances, two of which his squad managed to reach the Elite 8, and 12 straight seasons of winning basketball.
Unfortunately, just like Boeheim, watching Drew’s offense is similar to watching paint dry. The 5th most unwatchable offense in the nation last year according to the Watchability Index, his squad failed to rank inside the top 100 in any Watchability stat, including a bottom 50 ranking in Pace of Play.
Drew’s offense is as basic as it gets and proves that he would much rather spend all of practice teaching his 1-3-1 zone rather than installing an offense that can actually put points on the board. Like the coaches previously mentioned, Drew’s success is undeniable, but unless you’re a big fan of a zone defense that grinds each game to a halt, then I’d avoid tuning in to any Baylor games.
No. 2 – Seton Hall
After a 10-year drought from the NCAA Tournament from 2005 to 2015, head coach Kevin Willard has now participated in the Madness for 4 straight seasons. Although his team has only managed to win a game in one of those four years, this year’s squad has a chance to do that and much more. With all five starters from last year’s squad returning, including leading scorer and Wooden Award nominee Myles Powell, the Hall have a legitimate chance to be one of the most successful squads in the school’s 124-year history.
That is if coach Willard can put together something that resembles an offense. Ranking as the 2nd least watchable team behind my good friend Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse Orange, Willard’s offense looked no better than your average YMCA pickup game. The Hall ranked in the bottom amongst the bottom 120 in Effective Field Goal Percentage and Percent of Points from 3 and failed to even crack the top half in the nation in the other 3 Watchability stats.
The squad showed zero semblance of teamwork, and Myles Powell played the role of the guy in a pickup game who thinks the only way his team can win is if he takes every shot (ranked 2nd behind the other ball hog, Markus Howard, in the Big East in usage percentage). With the rare occasion of having all five starters return from a very successful team a season prior, Coach Willard has a chance to produce a watchable offense. But if he can’t reel in Myles Powell and get his squad to play together to create better shots than contested-fadeaway 3s from Powell, they will be one of the most unwatchable teams in the country.
No.1 – Washington
What’s the only thing worse than a successful Jim Boeheim squad? A successful squad lead by one of his protegé. After spending 22 years as an assistant on Boeheim’s staff, former Syracuse guard Mike Hopkins decided to jump ship and take a job across the country at Washington. After a mildly successful first season as head coach, Hopkins’ squad settled in as serious contenders in the Pac 12, going 15-3 in the conference to capture the regular-season title and earning Hopkins the conference Coach of the Year recognition.
With this string of success, Hopkins was able to steal two highly touted recruits from the 2019 class, 5-star Rochester native Isiah Stewart and former Syracuse star Tyus Battle‘s younger brother, Raequan, right from under the nose of his former teacher, Boeheim. Those two will join the number one PF in the nation, Jaden McDaniels, and former 4-star Kentucky guard Quade Green to wrap up what was a rockstar offseason for coach Hopkins.
But even with all that talent coming in, this squad won’t even be close to watchable. Ranking in the bottom 50 in Assists Per Field Goals Made and Pace of Play and finishing in the bottom half of the league in the other three Watchability stats, Washington finished as the fourth least watchable team in the nation in my rankings last season.
Exactly like Boeheim, Hopkins runs the gimmick 2-3 zone the majority of every game and relies on turning defense to offense in order for his team to score. But, on possessions when the zone doesn’t create a turnover or a bad shot leading to a transition bucket, Hopkins offense is basically a free-for-all, with the players on his team showing no continuity and the majority of the possessions ending in isolation.
https://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2019/08/27/college-basketball-2019-2020-preseason-top-25/ (nbcsports.com; Dauster)
There is so much that is going to happen between now and the time that next season starts that it almost seems foolish to publish a preseason top 25 today.
But we’re doing it anyway!
A couple of notes: Who is going to head to the NBA is very much in the air right now. There are still a number of freshmen that have yet to announce where they are playing their college ball. The transfer market has barely heated up. For decisions that are up in the air, you’ll see an asterisk next to their name. We’re making predictions on what certain players will do and ranking based off of them.
So with all that said, here is the preseason top 25.
1. MICHIGAN STATE
- WHO’S GONE: Matt McQuaid, Kenny Goins, Nick Ward
- WHO’S BACK: Cassius Winston, Xavier Tillman, Joshua Langford, Aaron Henry, Kyle Ahrens, Gabe Brown, Foster Loyer, Marcus Bingham, Thomas Kithier
- WHO’S COMING IN: Rocket Watts, Malik Hall, Julius Marble
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Cassius Winston, Joshua Langford, Kyle Ahrens, Aaron Henry, Xavier Tillman
- WHO’S GONE: P.J. Washington, Keldon Johnson, Tyler Herro, Reid Travis
- WHO’S BACK: E.J. Montgomery, Ashton Hagans, Immanuel Quickly, Nick Richards
- WHO’S COMING IN: Kahlil Whitney, Tyrese Maxey, Keion Brooks, Johnny Juzang, Dontaie Allen, Nate Sestina
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Tyrese Maxey, Ashton Hagans, Kahlil Whitney, Keion Brooks, E.J. Montgomery
- WHO’S GONE: Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish, Marques Bolden
- WHO’S BACK: Tre Jones, Alex O’Connell, Jack White, Javin DeLaurier, Jordan Goldwire, Joey Baker
- WHO’S COMING IN: Vernon Carey, Wendell Moore, Matthew Hurt, Cassius Stanley
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Tre Jones, Alex O’Connell, Wendell Moore, Matthew Hurt, Vernon Carey
- WHO’S GONE: Lagerald Vick, Dedric Lawson, Quintin Grimes, K.J. Lawson, Charlie Moore
- WHO’S BACK: Devon Dotson, Ochai Agbaji, Udoka Azubuike, Marcus Garrett, Silvio De Sousa, Mitch Lightfoot, David McCormack
- WHO’S COMING IN: Isaiah Moss, Jalen Wilson, Tristan Enaruna, Isaac McBride, Christian Braun
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Devon Dotson, Isaiah Moss, Ochai Agbaji, Silvio De Sousa, Udoka Azubuike
- WHO’S GONE: Eric Paschall, Phil Booth, Jahvon Quinerly
- WHO’S BACK: Jermaine Samuels, Cole Swider, Saddiq Bey, Collin Gillespie, Dhamir Cosby-Rountree, Brandon Slater
- WHO’S COMING IN: Bryan Antoine, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Justin Moore, Eric Dixon
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Collin Gillespie, Bryan Antoine, Saddiq Bey, Jermaine Samuels, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
- WHO’S GONE: Christen Cunningham, Khwan Fore, Akoy Agau
- WHO’S BACK: Jordan Nwora, Dwayne Sutton, Ryan McMahon, Steve Enoch, Malik Williams, Darius Perry
- WHO’S COMING IN: Samuell Williamson, Jaelyn Withers, Josh Nickelberry, Fresh Kimble, David Johnson, Aidan Igiehom, Quinn Slazinski
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Fresh Kimble, Samuell Williamson, Dwayne Sutton, Jordan Nwora, Malik Williams
Other
Why 2 big Air Force planes kept flying in and out of Syracuse airport Tuesday (PS; Moriarty)
Wondering why two large dark gray military planes repeatedly flew in and out of Syracuse Hancock International Airport on Tuesday?
It turns out that Syracuse is a popular place for military pilots to get in some practice time.
Two KC-10 Extender planes from Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst near Trenton, New Jersey, came to Syracuse around noon to practice takeoffs and landings, the airport said on its Twitter feed.
Well, you don't see - or feel - that every day. We were paid a visit today here at #SYR by two #KC10 tankers from @jointbasemdl! #Military #America #Syracuse #CentralNewYork #MilitaryAircraft pic.twitter.com/TsfiYVgPKo
Military planes from elsewhere in the Northeast like to practice takeoffs and landings in Syracuse because the skies around the city are not as crowded as they are in bigger metro areas with busier airports.
The 305th Air Mobility Wing at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst operates 32 KC-10 planes to conduct strategic airlift and air refueling missions worldwide.
Based on the DC-10 jetliner, the McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender first flew in July 1980. It can carry up to 356,000 pounds of fuel -- almost twice as much as the KC-135 Stratotanker -- for refueling other aircraft in flight. It can also transport up to 75 people and nearly 170,000 pounds of cargo 4,400 miles unrefueled.
