sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to National Kool-Aid Day!
Enjoy a refreshing glass of Kool-Aid today! National Kool-Aid Day coincides with the first day of Kool-Aid Days each year, which is always celebrated on the second weekend of August in Hastings, Nebraska, the city where Kool-Aid was created. Hastings' Kool-Aid Days began in 1998, the same year that Kool-Aid was named Nebraska's official state drink.
Edward Perkins lived in Hastings and spent his time experimenting with making products in his mother's kitchen and selling them by mail-order. He created the Perkins Products Company in 1920, and shortly thereafter created Fruit Smack, a liquid concentrate used to make a flavored drink by mixing it with sugar and water. The four-ounce bottles were expensive to ship and sometimes broke in transit. To reduce costs, Perkins made a powdered form in 1927, being inspired by Jello-O. It was sold in packets and was available in six flavors: cherry, grape, lemon-lime, orange, raspberry, and strawberry. The name was first changed to "Kool Ade," production was moved to Chicago in 1931, and Perkins trademarked the name Kool-Aid in 1934.
SU News
International Left-handers Day: SU basketball’s Top 10 lefties (PS; $; Waters)
They hold scissors upside-down. Their hand-writing is smudged. In grade school, there was just one desk designed for them in each classroom.
Left-handers, as this writer can attest, have to deal with living in a right-handed world. Even the game of baseball is designed for the right-handed.
But today is their day. It’s International Left-handers Day and, thus, we celebrate the best lefties in Syracuse basketball history. Syracuse has had more than a handful of talented left-handers, but we’ve whittled the list down to the Top 10.
Here they are:
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Benny Williams can't wait to wear Orange, how his love for SU started (cnycentral.com; Tamurian)
Syracuse Basketball fans were elated when Benny Williams committed to Syracuse Basketball's Class of 2021 earlier this summer.
Williams is the 44th ranked prospect in that class according to our friends at 247Sports.com.
One look at his film and it's clear that he fits perfectly in Syracuse's system. As Benny puts it "If you think about it, Syracuse likes big wings, C.J. Fair, Hakim Warrick, Carmelo (Anthony), Jerami (Grant) and they all had good careers for Syracuse, so I didn't know why I couldn't be the next one."
Williams indeed fits Jim Boeheim's plans in earnest, a 6'8" forward that has grown an entire foot since he started high school (and maybe more, Benny tells us) he's the prototypical long and athletic wings that the Orange absolutely love.
But Benny's commitment to Syracuse goes well beyond an athletic fit as important as that may be.
Simply put, he always wanted to wear Orange.
"I knew I wanted to go there, there was no other option, for real."
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Allen Griffin is staying, but who could Syracuse have replaced him with? - The Juice Online (the juice; Cheng)
Allen Griffin was rumored to be recruited by Indiana for a vacant assistant coaching position earlier in the week before he ultimately decided to remain at Syracuse, according to reports. Though Griffin is staying, the coaching staff as it stands won’t remain intact forever.
Jim Boeheim will retire at some point, and if the administration promotes from within, there will be an assistant coaching vacancy. Of course, Griffin, Red Autry or Gerry McNamara could also seek coaching opportunities elsewhere.
If that were to happen, where could Syracuse look to fill that vacancy? Here are some ideas:
Ryan Blackwell: What is one thing that Griffin, Autry, McNamara and Boeheim all have in common? They all were Syracuse guards. With due respect to other guys on this list like Eric Devendorf (below), the coaching staff is already guard heavy. Since Mike Hopkins left to take over the job at Washington, the Orange staff has lacked someone who can develop big men. Enter Blackwell, who was a versatile forward during his time at SU, and also has extensive coaching experience both overseas and locally, including with Boeheim’s Army and Liverpool High School.
Josh Pace: Pace, a rugged forward from Syracuse’s 2003 national championship team, got into coaching starting in 2015. He started as an assistant coach with the Pepperdine Waves women’s team, before taking over as the Western New Mexico head women’s coach earlier this year. Pace joined me on The Juice on the Cuse podcast earlier in the year, and told me he keeps regular contact with Boeheim, and also plans on throwing in some zone as part of his defensive scheme.
Jason Hart: After a 10 year NBA career with nine different teams, Hart began his coaching career in 2011. He’s been an assistant under Andy Enfield at USC since 2013. Hart was a First-Team All Big East guard in his senior season and would certainly bring plenty of knowledge to the staff. But it would be difficult prying him away from Los Angles for a second time.
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SU Top 100: #13 Derrick Coleman – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (oragnefizz.net; Aki)
One of the many legendary #44s in Orange history claims the 13th spot on our SU Top 100 list. Derrick Coleman brought Detroit toughness to the iconic old Big East en route to one of the best careers Syracuse basketball has ever seen.
Coleman was ahead of his time basketball-wise. You could drop him into today’s game and he would have experienced just as much, if not more, success. He was a long and lanky big man who could handle the ball and step out for jumpers, while also being a menace on the boards.
Coleman’s Orange career began with a bang. He introduced himself to the Orange faithful with a Big East Rookie of the Year trophy after averaging nearly 12 points and almost 9 rebounds per game. DC was a part of the 1986-87 team that shocked the country and blended youth and talent to get to the program’s first ever national championship game. However, there’s one moment from Coleman’s freshman year that still haunts SU fans. With less than 30 seconds to play and one point Orange lead, Coleman went to the line for a one-and-one. He missed the front end and I’m not going to trigger a recollection of a traumatic Syracuse memory.
Coleman’s SU teams were arguably the peak of Orange basketball in terms of regular season performance. He never was worse than a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament and made it to the big dance all four years.
Despite playing alongside some extremely talented teammates (many of which have been featured in our top 100), Coleman rose above the rest. He left SU as the program’s leader in rebounds, points, minutes and second in blocks. He also sits inside the top 25 in NCAA history in rebounding.
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SU Top 100: #11 Dwayne ‘Pearl’ Washington – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net; Gross)
Most people couldn’t find Syracuse, New York on a map. College basketball was dominated SEC and Big 12 schools. Then Pearl Washington happened.
In 1983, Washington was the talk of the streets in the Mecca of basketball, New York City. The point guard averaged 35 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and four steals playing at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn. Washington was the number one recruit in the land. He announced his decision to play for the Orange on national television in an interview with Al McGuire.
With the prolific Patrick Ewing at Georgetown and Chris Mullin at St. Johns, Washington was SU’s answer. Without him, the Orange wouldn’t have rose to prominence in the early Big East. Before his arrival, the Carrier Dome averaged 20,401 fans per game. By his junior year, over 26,000 were coming to watch Washington.
The beauty of his game was undeniable. He was not super athletic, and he did not have a great long-range jump shot. While those shortcomings would be a death sentence for most guards, Washington made up for it with his wizard-like ball handling, an abundance of fakes and buttery touch. It was showtime, every time.
Washington’s arrival in Syracuse was highly anticipated, but the hype turned into frenzy 15 games into his college career, when he hit the most iconic shot in Syracuse history.
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Duke basketball: How ACC can create bubble to pull off CBB season (balldurham.com; McClure)
An ACC bubble may be the way for a Duke basketball season to take place.
The NBA has had tremendous success with its bubble in Orlando. So far, there have been zero positive COVID-19 tests. The league has done a great job instituting strict safety protocols to ensure the safety of players (including more than a dozen of the Duke basketball variety), coaches, and media.
If the NBA can do it, there is no reason the ACC and other major conferences cannot.
The NBA has more money and resources. But the ACC certainly has no shortage of money and resources. The ACC can find one central location (bubble) where all the teams, media members, and other staffers can reside. One reason this could work is that most universities are switching to distance learning anyways. The players will still have the opportunity to attend virtual classes and complete their assigned work in the bubble.
The argument could be made that having one central location for all players could result in a better educational experience than one they could get on their own. Each school could bring a few people from academic support to offer in-person tutoring to all players. This is a resource that student-athletes would not be able to take advantage of if they were participating in distance learning back at home.
The central location or “bubble” would obviously reduce the need for transportation. In the ACC, schools are spread out all over the place. It can be reasonably concluded that less travel would result in less risk of catching or spreading the virus. Just like the NBA, the ACC could instill serious consequences for leaving the bubble. If a player or coach leaves the bubble unauthorized or without a valid reason, that player/coach would have to serve an automatic two-game suspension without the ability to appeal.
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When Deep Shots Are Better Than Cheap Shots (DBR; Jacobs)
Shooting more accurately from 3-point range than from within the arc is just not that easy. That’s why it doesn’t happen all that often. Especially now that the bonusphere boundary stretches farther from the basket.
Last season only nine qualifying ACC regulars were more efficient converting from 3-point than 2-point range. This attribute usually earns a player a sharpshooter’s reputation, at least among scouts, and special defensive attention.
Of course the efficiency imbalance could also reflect a player’s limited athleticism. When the three came into effect, such players were forecast to most likely benefit.
Or, given a squad’s other strengths, players who are better from long-distance than from within the arc might just be best utilized away from the basket.
Last season the nine ACC regulars with accuracy better on threes rather than twos came from seven ACC teams, two each from Virginia and Virginia Tech.
Five of the nine return this season.
The majority of the nine took more than 70 percent of their shots from the bonusphere.
Four were starters.
Only two, Virginia’s Kihei Clark and Louisville’s Ryan McMahon, since graduated, played for the league’s top five finishers in the standings.
Only Clark (10.8) and Notre Dame’s Gibbs (13.3), also moved on, averaged double-figure scoring.
Clark is the sole member of this group who is also his team’s top returning scorer.
None of the nine made all-conference.
WHEN LONGER IS BETTER
3-Pt Pct. Better Than Or Equal to 2-Pt Pct. in 2020
(Minimum 300 Mins. Played, One 3 Per Game, Pcts. Rounded,
Asterisk Indicates No Longer in ACC)3s % FGAPlayer, School3M-Att3%-Overall%
| .813 | Ryan McMahon, UL* | 156-192 | .436-.422 |
| .770 | Tomas Woldentensae,Jr.,V | 149-187 | .361-.358 |
| .767 | Pat Andree, NS* | 89-116 | .326-.302 |
| .744 | Julian Rishwain, BC* | 30-90 | .333-.314 |
| .714 | Jalen Cone, VT | 140-196 | .487-.408 |
| .680 | Ismael Massoud, WF | 33-83 | .398-.385 |
| .536 | TJ Gibbs, ND* | 181-338 | .420-.420 |
| .532 | Nahiem Alleyne, VT | 126-237 | .389-.388 |
| .343 | Kihei Clark, V | 36-96 | .375-.375 |
Other
Syracuse, Colgate, Siena named among 50 most beautiful college campuses in America (PS; Herbert)
Several schools in Upstate New York have been named among the most beautiful college campuses in the nation.
Condé Nast Traveler magazine has released a new list of “The 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America,” praising a mix of modern designs like Bard College and classic architecture at Harvard University. Schools were listed in alphabetical order (instead of being ranked) and nine in New York state made the cut — including Syracuse University, Siena College, SUNY Geneseo and Colgate University.
Syracuse University was praised for its variety of seasons, from sledding in the winter to warm springs on the SU quad, and its variety of buildings.
“You’ll find (students) on the slope in front of Crouse College, a Romanesque revival-style castle that proudly overlooks campus, and laying out on the quad beside the ivy-covered Bowne Hall, Carnegie Library, and Hendricks Chapel (the latter was modeled after the Pantheon),” the magazine wrote. “Look out for the modern glass facade of Newhouse 3, one of three buildings within Syracuse’s communications school—the First Amendment is inscribed on the outer west wall.”
Colgate University, previously named the most beautiful college campus in the Empire State, received credit for its 10 miles of walkways — “ideal for walking on a nice spring day” — and gorgeous trees around the Hamilton, N.Y., campus for ideal leaf-peeping in the fall.
Siena College, located near Albany in “picturesque Loudonville,” got a shoutout for its annual tradition of students racing across the central quad to houses on the edge of town for “countdown parties,” in which each numbered home throws a party coinciding with the number of days left until graduation.
And the State University of New York at Geneseo earned a salute to its beautiful, green campus that turns into a winter wonderland when “the architecture of Sturges and Fraser Hall, a more modest blend of Georgian and Collegiate Gothic stylings... [are] contrasted in a brilliant white snowfall that really leaves an impression.”
Other New York schools that made the list include Columbia University, the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, and New York University. Notable colleges in other states include Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Georgetown, Duke, UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, and the University of North Carolina.
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