sutomcat
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Welcome to Syracuse Wins Third National Championship in Men's Basketball Day!
SU News
SU players look back at 2003 title win through lens of iconic photo (PS; Waters)
In the moments after the scoreboard clock finally clicked down to zeroes on Syracuse’s 81-78 win over Kansas in the 2003 NCAA championship game, the Syracuse players and coaches swarmed each other near midcourt.
They jumped and then they fell and, as others arrived, they formed a celebratory dogpile.
If there is any moment outside of the game’s 40 minutes that remains fresh in the players’ minds it is that instance when they had just realized that they were national champions.
The pile is a mixture of starters, subs, walk-ons, assistant coaches and staffers.
Dennis Nett, a photographer for the Post-Standard and Syracuse.com, caught the celebration in an iconic photo. The jubilation on the players’ faces is clear as they rush toward Nett and begin their celebration.
On the anniversary of Syracuse’s championship game victory over Kansas, we asked some of those in the midcourt celebration to look at the photograph and offer their memories of that magical moment.
CLAY McKNIGHT, Strength and conditioning coach
I remember waiting for the last .7 seconds, standing next to Hop and Gerry with our arms embraced. I was stressed thinking of ways Kansas could tie this game and Gerry told both of us to ‘Relax, we got this.’
ANDREW KOUWE, junior walk-on
Once the final whistle blew it was a mad rush!
GERRY McNAMARA, freshman guard
I just ran. I didn’t know exactly where I was going. I was so excited.
MATT GORMAN, freshman forward
My first thought running toward the pile was how Carmelo’s NBA dreams were going to be crushed.
The Syracuse University basketball team pile on the floor after their victory over Kansas to win the national title. Photo by: Dennis Nett/Post-Standard
HAKIM WARRICK, sophomore forward
“Melo and I were among the first guys there, so we were at the bottom of the pile. I remember Melo screaming out ‘I can’t breathe!’’ I could barely breathe and I wasn’t even on the bottom. Melo was getting crushed.
McNAMARA
We had joked about it before the game. I’m not going to be on the bottom of the pile. We really did joke about that. When we win this thing, I’m not the one on the bottom. That ain’t happening to me. And it just so happened that the best player in the country was there at the bottom.
GORMAN
The pile was cool at first, then Jeremy McNeil jumped on and it got weird real quick.
WARRICK
You can see all the guys who were in the game on the final play and then you see Kouwe and Rev (walk-on Ronneil Herron). They’re right in there. How did they get there so fast?
McNAMARA
I remember at one point I was next to Billy (Edelin). We were running to halfcourt and I think Todd Forcier, our strength coach who is now with the Portland Trailblazers, (he) liked to be aggressive and he started firing guys into one area. I remember getting toppled on. Kueth (Duany) got thrown and the heel of his shoe skimmed off the side of my face.
And as I was sitting there all I heard was ‘Ah, get off! Get off me!’ It was Melo on the bottom.
The Syracuse University basketball team pile on each other after their win over Kansas to win the NCAA National Championship in New Orleans. Photo by: Dennis Nett/Post-Standard
KOUWE
We all got up and just embraced each other. ‘What did we just do?’ was the feeling. I then remember a bunch of us gathering around coach Boeheim as he was being interviewed by Jim Nantz. All of us were so happy we played a part in him getting his first national championship.
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The Block: Warrick on the play that saved SU's 2003 title (PS; Waters)
A month or two ago, Hakim Warrick walked into a store in the Washington D.C. area. A young man in his 20s spotted him and approached. “Are you Hakim Warrick?’’ the man asked. “I’m from Syracuse. I remember that block you had against Kansas.’’ Warrick shook his head at the encounter.
“He couldn’t have been more than 5 years old when we won the championship,’’ Warrick said. “It’s crazy. If you’re from the Syracuse area or you’re a Syracuse fan, you remember that play.’’
That play was Warrick’s game-saving block of Michael Lee’s 3-point attempt in the final seconds of the 2003 NCAA championship game. Warrick’s block preserved Syracuse’s 81-78 victory over the Jayhawks in the Louisiana Superdome. “I still have Syracuse fans come up to me all the time,’’ Warrick said, “and they thank me for that block.’’ Warrick’s block would be remembered if only for its timeliness. With time running out, Kansas guard Kirk Hinrich had found Lee open in the corner for a shot to win the game and Warrick had erased it.
But Warrick’s block become truly iconic because of the lengths he had to go to reach the ball as Lee let it go. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim knew Kansas would have to go for a 3-pointer, so he altered his lineup, putting Warrick, a lanky 6-foot-9 forward at the center position. When Hinrich, Kansas’ best outside shooter, got the ball on the wing, Syracuse forward Kueth Duany raced out to defend him. That left Lee open in the corner. “I wasn’t supposed to defend the corner,’’ Warrick said. “Usually, it’s the forward’s job, but this was a last-ditch effort. I saw Kueth close out on Hinrich. Usually, he would bump back, but I saw there was no way he’d get back. He had pretty much sold-out.’’ As the pass went to Lee, Warrick was still in the lane. But he ran at Lee out of desperation
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Bracket: Best NBA career for a Syracuse basketball alum - The Juice Online (the juice; Dagostino)
While the world has been without sports the past few weeks, many publications have been looking back at some of the best moments, players and games of the past.
Recently, the Atlantic Coast Conference made a bracket of the best conference players of all-time. Placed to a fan vote, the final four players all hailed from Syracuse (good job, Orange fans!).
And, despite none of the four players actually playing in the ACC, Carmelo Anthony, Pearl Washington, Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens faced off against each other.
Here you go,!
One last time… Who ya got?
— ACC Men’s Basketball (@accmbb) March 31, 2020
That bracket has now led to this: Which Syracuse players enjoyed the best NBA careers?
So, throw out what happened at Syracuse. It doesn’t matter for this exercise. So, guys like Pearl Washington, Lawrence Moten and Leo Rautins? Sorry… they were great in central New York. But, their NBA careers didn’t come to full fruition.
Based on factors such as statistics, advanced statistics, longevity, awards and accolades, the list of 53 Syracuse players who have played in the NBA has been pared down to 16. Seeded one through 16, we’ve gone through all the matchups to determine who reigns supreme:
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Future Cuse basketball star, current football star to reunite (247sports.com; McAllister)
Trill Williams is one of the most talented and exciting players on the Syracuse football team. He starred at Stepinac High School where he became a four star recruit prior to joining the Orange. Now he is set to welcome one of his classmates to campus, as former Stepinac basketball star Alan Griffin is transferring to Syracuse from Illinois. The two are friends dating back to their time in high school.
"In high school, we had lunch together all the time," Griffin said. "We had a couple classes. We just be laughing and stuff. Not in class, but always in lunch we would joke around and stuff. Our relationship is close. We kept in touch and would text each other to make sure we were doing good. Then when he found out I might be transferring to Syracuse, he texted me 'slide to Cuse' which means come to Cuse basically. He was just telling me how good the program was and that we could be reunited basically."
Trill's dad, Tre, provided further insight into their relationship.
"They talk constantly. He's one of Trill's close friends," Williams said. "They have pretty much the same demeanor and for them to be the best at their high school you couldn't tell. Imagine having him and Trill in the same class. So they pretty much hung together."
While Griffin says that Trill being at Syracuse did not impact his decision, Williams was able to provide some insight into what life is like at SU.
"He said it was a great campus and that I'd like it up there," Griffin said. "All the good things about it."
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Former Syracuse star Josh Pace will 'for sure' coach zone at WNMU - The Juice Online (the juice; Cheng)
Former Syracuse forward Josh Pace will take his Orange roots into his first head coaching position.
Pace, who was named head coach of the Western New Mexico women’s basketball team on Thursday, plans on taking a page out of his former head coach’s playbook: Jim Boeheim’s vaunted 2-3 zone.
“We will play it for sure,” Pace said with a laugh. “Not just zone, though, but it’s definitely getting played.”
Pace, who won a 2003 National Championship as a sophomore at Syracuse and was named a Big East Honorable Mention after his senior year in 2005, had a long professional playing career that took him all over the world.
After starting out in the NBA Development League and the American Basketball Association, Pace played the majority of his pro career in New Zealand. While playing in the New Zealand Basketball League, he was a four-time All Star, a two time scoring champion and the MVP of the 2007 season.
Pace played for NZBL’s Manawatu Jets in 2012 and was coached by Ryan Weisenberg, who would prove to be a pivotal figure in Pace’s post-playing career.
“[Weisenberg] told me he would have an opportunity for me whenever I stopped playing,” Pace said. “Fast forward two years later, he got the head coaching position at Pepperdine University and asked me if I wanted a position. I didn’t necessarily want to retire then and go into coaching, but I knew at some point it was going to be my route, so I took him on his offer.”
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Other
McMahon: Onondaga Co. faces 5,000+ coronavirus cases at once, if we don’t do better (PS; Dowty)
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon warned Monday that coronavirus cases could spiral out of control if residents don’t do more social distancing immediately.
For the first time, McMahon revealed projections from Upstate Medical University showing when COVID-19 cases locally might peak. He posted it on Twitter and talked about it during his Monday news conference.
The projections show that everything depends on how well we change our social habits in the next couple of weeks, he said.
From here, we could follow a grim projection that forecasts more than 5,000 infections at once countywide by mid-June. That’s if we’re only mediocre at social distancing (the brown curve, defined as “38 percent distancing” on the chart).
On the other hand, we could follow a much better trajectory, totaling 2,500 infections at once and a significantly lower peak in mid-August. That’s if we do well with social distancing (the yellow curve, defined as “50 percent distancing” on the chart).
Besides saving lives, the second trajectory would be manageable in the hospitals and provide a good argument to reopening the economy sooner rather than later, McMahon said.
It’s unclear how many total people would need to be hospitalized or die under the projections, though the graphic suggests a 2 percent mortality rate among total infections. (The lines on the chart only represent infections on that date; the total number of infections -- including recoveries and deaths -- would be much greater.)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier extended social-distancing orders until late April. And McMahon has banned parties, closed golf courses and implemented a voluntary “stay-at-home” program, in which people only run essential errands every other day.
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