sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Do a Grouch a Favor Day!
Do a Grouch a Favor Day is a day for doing favors for the grouches in our lives. Maybe they are our neighbor, a coworker, part of our family, or a stranger we meet at the store or on the street. Some people are always grouchy, and some people only become grouchy after a lot of stress is placed on them. We probably have all been grouchy at some point. No matter where a grouch is found today, the day is for doing them a favor, with the hope that it will cheer them up, and help their grouchiness subside. It may not help everyone—some people are perennial grouches—but it's worth a try!
SU News
In one update, Syracuse basketball commit bolts from unranked into top 60 (itlh; Adler)
One of the primary recruiting services has updated its national rankings for the 2022 class, and a Syracuse basketball signee has jumped into these ratings.
On3, with its 2022 refresh, has expanded its rankings from the top-100 players to the top-150 high-school prospects. Orange commit Chris Bunch, who wasn’t previously included in the On3 top 100, has skyrocketed from unranked into the top-60 overall.
The 6-foot-7 Bunch, a senior at the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, is now No. 55 nationally and the No. 16 small forward, per On3, which also rates him as a four-star player.
For what it’s worth, 2022 four-star wing Kamari Lands is No. 60 across the country, according to On3. Lands had previously given a verbal commitment to the ‘Cuse but reopened his recruitment back up last summer. He has since verbally committed to Louisville.
Let’s review other national rankings for Syracuse basketball pledge Chris Bunch.
As we’ve previously noted, Bunch is not included in the top-100 national rankings from ESPN for 2022. In fact, none of the Orange’s five signees in the 2022 cycle are.
When recently updated its national rankings for this class, that recruiting service bumped up Bunch slightly, to No. 80 nationally.
In the most recent refresh from 247Sports, Bunch is No. 55 overall and No. 16 at small forward. All of these recruiting services, by the way, rate him as a four-star player in the 2022 class.
At the time that I penned this column, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed Bunch at No. 96 nationwide and No. 25 at small forward. He’s currently the only Syracuse basketball 2022 commit who is in the top-100 overall, according to that composite index.
Similarly, at the time of this writing, the On3 Consensus Ratings put Bunch at No. 57 nationally and No. 14 at small forward throughout the entire 2022 class.
In those On3 Consensus Ratings, Bunch is the highest-rated of the Orange’s five 2022 signees. I recently wrote a separate column where you can see the latest consensus rankings for the ‘Cuse 2022 commits.
As far as Bunch goes, I think he’s going to really shine on the Hill. From what I’ve read about him, and in watching him play some as well, Bunch is really athletic, can stroke it from the perimeter, and his defense continues to improve.
Some national analysts and scouts have already gone on record in saying that they believe Bunch could make an immediate impact in Central New York when he arrives at Syracuse basketball as a freshman.
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Syracuse Basketball: 2022 rankings update is not as high on 4-star target (itlh; Adler)
Syracuse basketball is expected to welcome a consensus top-100 prospect in the 2022 cycle to the Hill later this month for an official visit, and we’re checking in on some of the latest national rankings for this top-flight guard.
On3 has updated its 2022 player ratings, while expanding its rankings from the top-100 to the top-150 prospects in this class. In this new 2022 refresh, On3 places Judah Mintz as four stars and at No. 79 overall, No. 12 at combo guard and No. 1 in Washington, D.C.
The 6-foot-3 Mintz, who hails from our nation’s capital and is deemed a combo guard or a shooting guard depending on the recruiting service, is a senior at the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.
According to reports, there is mutual interest between Mintz and the Orange coaching staff. Mintz had previously given a verbal commitment to Pittsburgh, but he reopened his recruitment back up last November.
Syracuse basketball is set to soon host four-star Judah Mintz on a visit.
Mintz has already taken an official visit to DePaul, with other trips in February planned for N.C. State and Wake Forest. He is scheduled to make an official visit to the ‘Cuse on February 25-27, during the same weekend when Syracuse basketball will face top-10 Duke at the Carrier Dome.
While On3 has Mintz just inside the top-80 across the country in the 2022 class, new national ratings from have him at No. 56 in this cycle, a jump of 12 spots, according to .
Not too long ago, when ESPN published its refresh of the top-100 prospects in 2022, Mintz arrived at No. 35 nationally. The 247Sports recruiting service, meanwhile, rates him at No. 73 overall.
Perhaps two of the more important national rankings are the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the On3 Consensus Ratings.
Per the 247Sports Composite, at the time of this writing, Mintz was No. 53 nationwide. By extension, the On3 Consensus Ratings had him at No. 50 nationally in 2022.
So the new On3 ranking for Mintz, at No. 79, isn’t quite as high as new ratings from other recruiting services, but let’s be real. He’s a top-80 overall player no matter how you slice it, and all us Syracuse basketball fans out there would love to see Mintz don an Orange uniform down the road.
One other note here. Numerous of the primary recruiting services that I’ve come across rank Mintz as a top-10 combo guard or a top-10 shooting guard around the country in his class.
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Ormond Spencer in his St. Lucy’s uniform, circa 1953.Courtesy of Milton Fields
Ormond Spencer was a Syracuse basketball star who made a difference in his community (PS; Searing)
Earl Lloyd, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and the man who broke the color barrier in the National Basketball Association in 1950, came to Syracuse to play for the Nationals in the summer of 1952.
Upon arriving, he found a city obsessed with the game.
The Nationals were second only to the New York Knicks in attendance, and Syracuse University was riding a four-year wave of success.
Yet, the best player in the city may very well have been an 18-year-old kid named Ormond Spencer, a 6-foot-1 standout for St. Lucy’s of the Syracuse Parochial League, the hottest ticket in town.
Ormond Spencer, or Ormey as he was known to his many friends and admirers, was born in Syracuse on December 7, 1934.
His parents, John and Clarice, lived on Renwick Avenue in the old 15th Ward. Growing up, Ormond spent much of his time playing sports and frequenting nearby Wilson Park, where he perfected his formidable skills and mastered the art of the jump-shot.
This was still years before urban renewal and the construction of Interstate 81 devastated these neighborhoods and Wilson Park was a hotspot for pickup games.
By the time Spencer entered St. Lucy’s as a freshman phenom in 1950, he was already a something of an urban legend, following in the footsteps of his fellow 15th Warder, Central High’s Manny Breland. After four years at St. Lucy’s, Ormey Spencer was a bona fide superstar.
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Dribble Handoff: Predicting which ACC teams will make the 2022 NCAA Tournament (cbssports.com; Cobb)
The ACC has put an average of 7.3 teams in the past seven NCAA Tournaments, which equates to nearly half the conference's 15 teams reaching the Big Dance each season during that span. But this year's Selection Sunday on March 13 threatens to be a rude awakening for a proud basketball conference suffering through a bleak season.
As of Monday, only three ACC teams were in the projected NCAA Tournament field of CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm. Of those three, only Duke was not considered to be on the bubble. But all hope is not lost, and the last few weeks of the season will decide whether the league saves face or whether it winds up with fewer NCAA Tournament teams than the Mountain West.
While the Blue Devils are an NCAA Tournament lock, Notre Dame, Miami, Wake Forest and North Carolina are each considered bubble teams. And Virginia Tech is also coming on strong after winning its sixth straight game on Monday against Virginia and climbing to No. 35 in Tuesday's NET ranking.
There is also the possibility that someone — perhaps Syracuse or Virginia? — could get hot in the ACC Tournament and crash the NCAA Tournament party. So how many teams from the ACC are actually going to make the NCAA Tournament, and who will they be? Our writers take on that question for this week's edition of the dribble handoff.
Gary Parrish
Duke, Notre Dame, Miami, Wake Forest
From 2014 to 2020, without exception, the ACC rated as one of college basketball's top four conferences, according to KenPom.com. But last season it finished fifth. And it's again rated fifth this season. So this is back-to-back below-average years for a league with some of the biggest brands in the sport -- among them Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse and Louisville. Exactly why the ACC has dipped is a topic worth exploring another day. For now, let's just focus on the question at hand.How many ACC teams will make the NCAA Tournament?
Put me down for four.
Duke is a lock -- and Notre Dame is obviously in good shape with a favorable schedule going forward, evidence being that four of the Irish's final six regular-season games are against teams ranked 100th-or-worse at KenPom. They'll be fine. And I'm also betting on Miami and Wake Forest to sneak in because I'm assuming both will close strongly enough to finish just on the right side of the bubble. North Carolina is the one I'm less sure about. The Tar Heels still have zero Quadrant 1 wins with only two more Q1 opportunities left in the regular season -- at Virginia Tech and at Duke. They'll be underdogs in both games. So unless the Tar Heels do something over the next few weeks that they literally haven't been able to do even once over the previous few months, they'll likely end up in the NIT considering no school has ever received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament without at least one Quadrant 1 win since the NCAA Tournament selection committee started using the NET rankings three seasons ago.
Matt Norlander
Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Wake Forest
...The Player of the Year contender in every single conference -- and who could unseat him (ESPN; Medcalf)
The buzz about the Wooden Award candidates for the 2021-22 men's college basketball season continues to grow. But just as winning the national award for Player of the Year is worthy of bragging rights, so too is winning a conference's Player of the Year award. This season, the competition to be the top player is tight across each conference in the country. But we're sure the next stretch of college basketball will separate each winner from his closest rival and the rest of the pack.
So, we sorted through the chaos, to give you a sense of the race for top player of each league.
Navigate to each league:
American | America East | ACC | Atlantic Sun | A-10 | Big 12 | Big East | Big Sky | Big South | Big Ten | Big West | CAA | C-USA | Horizon | Ivy | MAAC | MAC | MEAC | MVC | MW | NEC | OVC | Pac-12 | Patriot | SEC | SoCon | Southland | SWAC | Summit | Sun Belt | WCC | WAC
American Athletic Conference
Josh Carlton, Houston Cougars
In December, Kelvin Sampson lost both Marcus Sasser, the team's leading scorer, and key contributor Tramon Mark to season-ending injuries. Those developments would ruin most teams' conference title aspirations. But Houston will enter Wednesday's key home game against SMU with an unblemished league record. Give Carlton a lot of credit for that. The 6-11 senior is averaging 14.6 PPG in league play and has shot 62% from inside the arc. With Carlton on the floor, the Cougars have averaged 114 points per 100 possessions, while holding opposing teams to just 84 points per 100 possessions, per hooplens.com.
Top Competition: Kendric Davis, SMU Mustangs (19.5 PPG, 41.9% from 3)
The senior guard has scored 20 points or more in five AAC games this season.
America East Conference
Ryan Davis, Vermont CatamountsDavis is not only the top contender for America East's Player of the Year, he's also the league's most challenging matchup. The 6-foot-8 forward is averaging 18.5 PPG in league play for a Vermont squad that's 10-0 in conference play. Davis is also in the top 10 in the conference in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage: He's made 58% of his 3-point attempts during his team's unbeaten streak in conference action, too. If he loses the award, it will only be because it has gone to teammate Ben Shungu, who's also made a strong case for the honor.
Top Competition: Ben Shungu, Vermont Catamounts (18.6 PPG, 59% from 3 in America East play)
The senior joins Davis as Vermont's one-two punch, which has dominated the league thus far.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Paolo Banchero, Duke Blue Devils
It's never easy to live up to the hype when you're a five-star prospect and projected top-three pick in the upcoming NBA draft. But Banchero has been the most dominant force in the ACC and is one of the best players in the entire country. The freshman is averaging 18.5 PPG (second in the league), 9.5 RPG and 1.2 BPG in conference action for a Duke team that's positioned to send Mike Krzyzewski off with his 13th ACC regular-season crown. He's a 6-10 athlete who embodies the positionless approach to the modern game. He posted 13 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 87-67 win at North Carolina -- and if he continues to play at this level, he could help Duke secure another gift for Coach K in his last season: a national championship.
Top Competition: Armando Bacot, North Carolina Tar Heels (17.3 PPG, 14.8 RPG in ACC play)
The junior forward has scored at least 15 points in seven ACC games.
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Other
Who's leaving to come here? See metros sending people to Syracuse (PS; $; Tampone)
Cities across the country are sending new residents to the Syracuse metro area, according to a recent list compiled by Stacker.
The city of Syracuse’s population actually grew between 2010 and 2020 for the first time in 70 years, according to Census Bureau data released last year. Stacker used data from the bureau to come up with its rankings of top metros people are leaving for the Syracuse area.
The city’s growth over the last decade halted a decades-long decline. The population increased by 3,450 people to 148,620, up about 2.4 percent from 2010, according to an analysis by the Empire Center for Public Policy.
That’s a small bump, but it represents a significant milestone for a city that lost almost a third of its population over a 60-year period.
You can see the top 10 metros sending people to the Syracuse area below. The Syracuse area includes Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties.
Read the full list of the top 50 metros on Stacker’s website. The metros are ranked by the estimated number of people who moved between 2015 and 2019.
Although the top 50 includes cities from numerous states, the top 10 list is dominated by other locations in New York.
10. Boston-Cambridge-Newton: Migration to Syracuse from Boston: 483. Migration from Syracuse to Boston: 749. Net migration: 266 to Boston.
9. Watertown-Fort Drum: Migration to Syracuse from Watertown: 530. Migration from Syracuse to Watertown: 299. Net migration: 231 to Syracuse.
8. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria: Migration to Syracuse from Washington: 560. Migration from Syracuse to Washington: 886. Net migration: 326 to Washington.
7. Albany-Schenectady-Troy: Migration to Syracuse from Albany: 636. Migration from Syracuse to Albany: 1,037. Net migration: 401 to Albany.
6. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington: Migration to Syracuse from Philadelphia: 649. Migration from Syracuse to Philadelphia: 276. Net migration: 373 to Syracuse.
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