2025-26 Preseason Practice

[cusefan88]

thanks for the write up

kiyans not playing? yikes

His mom (Lala) posted on her story today. She was at practice and he's playing.

 

[RedtheGOB]

I’d love to see the kid who at times looked unguardable in HS/Prep. Absolutely in the camp of rooting for him to finally breakout ( on both ends of the court and as a winner).

Breakout defensively please! There’s finally enough talent on this team that he doesn’t need to do it all. How about a few steals a game and zero turnovers. If he quietly has great +/-‘s that’s going to be huge for this team.

As cool as it sounds for JJ to have 25 a game it’s not good for the team or the season.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Some tidbits from practice today from a reliable source. Will discuss each player sorting by number assigned in reverse order. Scholarship players only…

The usual disclaimers apply. This was just one practice. Sometimes strange things happen in practice. Take all comments with a large grain of salt.

Bryce Zephir

His physical appearance is off setting. He looks chunky. He is the third string point. Not a great athlete but you can see he has been around and knows the game. Not going to,score much but he gets it to the open man and works hard on defense. Probably not going to play a ton of minutes.

William Kyle

Looks shorter than Freeman or White. Very quick and athletic. Can jump. Will block some shots. Scored some on pick and rolls. Likes that play. More on that later. Also flashed a few traditional low post type moves. Battled on defense. I don’t think he will be a major liability on defense. Don’t expect him to be a big scorer but should average around 10 ppg.

Aaron Womack

Skinny. Mostly hangs out on the perimeter and had the ball knocked loose some when he was in position to score. But he finished a couple breaks and made some nice passes. There is potential here. I can’t see him playing a lot on this team and think he is a strong candidate to redshirt.

Tiefing Diawara

His hair style is weird and he is pretty raw. But I was surprised at how well he defended, rebounded and held his own against more experienced bigs. He is a tough kid that does not back down and he runs the court and moves shockingly well. Has to develop a back to the basket game and better footwork but he is a legit 7’0 240 as a frosh and if he works hard, he could actually become a force inside for us in a year or two. Maybe the most pleasant surprise of the practice?

Naithan George

He didn’t dominate the ball when his team had it. Which I think is a good thing. Rarely made a mistake. Made the right pass consistently. Played good defense and hit a bunch of mid range jumpers. But his love for the pick and roll really showed. He will run that play all game long if he can. And he is good at it. I have missed seeing it. Good to see SU running it a lot again.

Ibrahim Souare

Very active. Hustles his butt off. Expect him to focus on rebounding and defense. If he scores, it is probably going to be on an alley oop or an offensive rebound. Not real comfortable with the ball. Will dunk it if he can. Got hit with an elbow to the forehead and missed most of practice. I think he is the backup center and might play a few minutes as a backup power forward too.

Luke Fennell

He appears to be the backup point. JJ is not playing any PG any longer. He got abused by JJ a couple of times on defense but usually held his own there. Rarely makes a mental mistake or bad decision. Knows how to play. Played some 2 with George, who found him for a couple open corner jumpers. Gets to the foul line, made all his FTs with perfect form. Had a shot or two blocked inside, where he might still be adjusting to the extreme athleticism of US college ball. I think he is going to play double figure minutes all season.

Kiyan Anthony

Didn’t scrimmage. Just practiced shooting on the other court. No sleeves in his legs. No major limp. Think he got hurt during the late spring/summer and is still on the mend? I think it’s gonna be very tough for him to play a lot without scrimmaging all preseason. He is falling behind right now.

Tyler Betsey

Another pleasant surprise. Physically mature. Played passable defense, rebounded okay, and was one of the few players who shot well from the perimeter. Mostly played on the perimeter. Did a good job finding open spots to shoot a jumper, mostly from the corners. Was able to hit a couple mid range shots too, and had a couple good passes. Freeman assisted on a few of his jumpers. They might be tight.

Nate Kingz

Another mostly perimeter player. Nate hit his first 3 and then lots of misses. I think he took quality shots but he didn’t shoot well from the outside. He did drive and score a couple times and had a couple tough layups in transition, which he unfortunately missed. His defense was okay. As was his rebounding. Certainly much better than the guy from last season.

JJ Starling

JJ was the best player on the court and the leading scorer by a large margin. Drove to the hoop with great speed and abandon. Hit jumpers (mid range and 3) when open. Made some nice passes and his effort on defense was the best I have seen from him. He played like you want your seniors to play.

Donnie Freeman

If JJ was the best player, Donovan was 1A. No sign of any lingering physical issues. Was uber aggressive on offense, attacking the lane for acrobatic baskets, hitting jumpers and making a bunch of nice passes too. Very effective finishing on pick and rolls, looked comfortable doing it. Also looked for and hit he second roller on some of these plays. He was absolutely dominant on the defense boards (not so much on the offensive boards) and he even got a couple weakside help blocks. And he stole the ball from a PG twice when he got caught in a switch with his pterodactyl type arms.

I will be surprised if he doesn’t average double figure rebounds and end up on the first team All ACC team. JJ might be on the second team.

Sadiq White Jr

Sadiq is an interesting player. He played extremely active on defense, hustling all over. He got,so,e steals, forced some turnovers but also got called for a lot of fouls. He doesn’t have a lot of moves or ways to score on offense but he is in the right place at the right time a lot and I expect he will score a bunch of garbage and fast break type points. Very good rebounder already. Pretty sure he is our best defender already. I think he is,going to be our first forward off the bench and be the energizer bunny for this team.

Lots of good athletes. The kids seem to genuinely like each other and everyone appeared to be working their butts off all practice. I think they are still getting to know each other (so many new faces) and they might start off slow, but this team has the potential to make a run in the NCAA tournament. Hopefully we have a season of good health. That will help a lot.

Big thank you for this post. This is why we have the pay side

 

[DCUNITED13]

I like hearing about the defensive ablility of our players. Hoping that our defense will drive our ability to win and make the tourney. I know it was the Zone, but our defence is what caused teams problems in the past.

Last few years we could not stop a team from scoring to swing the momentum. With the long arms and height at the guard spots, I hope the opponents ability of getting the ball into the interior/lane will be limited. We need more steals from guard and SF positions to drive our Fast Break and easy points.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[RedtheGOB]

In that picture I recognize 0 of 4 players ha. These guys have a huge opportunity to be remembered in Syracuse for a long time if they can in fact be the turnaround team.

Right now there's a whole lot of players that were shown the door the last 3 years that we don't want to remember at all. They'll go down as the what not to do crew.

 

[bballbeadle]

Interesting- photos from IG a couple days ago( and many others the past couple weeks) showed Kiyan scrimmaging. Wonder if maybe a small injury and was out as a precaution.

Yes, I am shocked and worried to hear about Kiyan.

 

[bballbeadle]

In that picture I recognize 0 of 4 players ha. These guys have a huge opportunity to be remembered in Syracuse for a long time if they can in fact be the turnaround team.

I feel so confused. There’s a line in Hamilton that goes, “Yo, who the ef is this?” That is sure going to be me for a while.

 

[DanielA]

Yes, I am shocked and worried to hear about Kiyan.

I don’t think it’s anything to worry about he’s been practicing all along.

 

[Nicknack]

The first two exhibition games later this month are going to be big for us (fans) to learn faces to names. I usually don't get all that excited about those games but this year is different.

 

[OttosDad]

Curious about rotations and lineups.

I think it’s obvious going into this season 3 point shooting has to be better…

Wondering how much we see a lineup of-
George, Kiyan, Kingz, Donnie, Kyle/Sadiq

It’s no secret JJ needs to shoot it better this year. He NEEDS to be around 33%. If Kiyan is shooting it well, pairing him with George in the backcourt would make a lot of sense

 

[jr4750]

 

[althea]

I would feel better if Seth said “what really blew me away was Donnie Freeman”

 

[hoopsupstate]

I like the sound of shot making, but I want to hear that teams will have trouble getting shots off against our defense.

 

[hoopsupstate]

I would feel better if Seth said “what really blew me away was Donnie Freeman”

After watching Donnie last year, I’m not convinced he has the makeup of exerting his will on people. He needs to be a difference maker on both ends of the floor. He has to show me that he will go get the ball off the offensive boards and challenge shots around the will. He was basically non existent at both last season. He needs a total mindset change. I was happy to hear him say at the ACC TIP OFF that he needed to improve defensively. He seems like he’s ready for the challenge.

 

[Hopkins16]

I would feel better if Seth said “what really blew me away was Donnie Freeman”

Donnie is the silent assassin type. He will put up his numbers and be effective quietly. Let Sadiq, JJ and others standout while Donnie kills em softly.

 

[RedtheGOB]

Been awhile since we had the 6th man hype player. Someone that comes in and you just breathe some relief and know he's going to make a play.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Been awhile since we had the 6th man hype player. Someone that comes in and you just breathe some relief and know he's going to make a play.

Seems like we’ll run a legit 9 or 10 deep.

 

[Orangezoo]

After watching Donnie last year, I’m not convinced he has the makeup of exerting his will on people. He needs to be a difference maker on both ends of the floor. He has to show me that he will go get the ball off the offensive boards and challenge shots around the will. He was basically non existent at both last season. He needs a total mindset change. I was happy to hear him say at the ACC TIP OFF that he needed to improve defensively. He seems like he’s ready for the challenge.

I’m holding out hope he still has that gene in him given he showed some of that in eybl and prep. Last years team severely lacked that kind of a mentality as a whole plus he was still just a freshman.

 

[Cuse_NYC]

Would be more than fine with George dominating the ball, contrary to that practice report. Do his best Ennis impression. More George with the ball and less JJ will lead to success. Still find it puzzling how JJ’s shot broke (from the shoulder injury or whatever else) and never was fixed.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

After watching Donnie last year, I’m not convinced he has the makeup of exerting his will on people. He needs to be a difference maker on both ends of the floor. He has to show me that he will go get the ball off the offensive boards and challenge shots around the will. He was basically non existent at both last season. He needs a total mindset change. I was happy to hear him say at the ACC TIP OFF that he needed to improve defensively. He seems like he’s ready for the challenge.

He was a freshman, with lots of older guys, finding his way. I put in some fun prompts with Chat GPT: here are Donnie’s projections, with his progress last year and historical jumps for 2nd year HS AA PFs.

Takeaway from comps: most McDAA forwards who return see a +1 to +3 PPG uptick with either slightly better efficiency or similar boards. Massive jumps happen, but they’re the exception and usually tied to a bigger minute/usage spike.








Freeman-specific context that nudges the projection up

• He already produced at a “starter-plus” level as a freshman (13.4 & 7.9; multiple double-doubles), then lost ACC-season reps to a 5th-metatarsal injury. That paused, but didn’t cap, the curve.
• Off-season reports have him fully back and leaning into a bigger role; local coverage is tagging him as a breakout candidate for 2025-26.

What would push him toward the ceiling

1. 30+ MPG and top-2 usage,
2. 2–3 3PA/g at ~33–35% to keep TS% healthy,
3. Syracuse guards consistently feed him early post seals & short-rolls (easy points, fewer tough self-creates).

What would keep him near the floor

• Minute share split at the 4/5, sticky turnovers, or a post-injury rim-attempt rate that’s too low (settling). Also, if the offense tilts heavily guard-dominant, the bump shrinks.

If you want me to tighten this to a single line (say, 16.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 57% TS in 28 MPG), give me:

1. Your guess at his minutes (26, 28, or 30+),
2. Whether Autry plays him mostly at the 4 or small-ball 5, and
3. Your read on 3-point volume (keep it low vs. green light).

 

[Blanko97]

Regarding JJ, he can always score and lots of people on this board often downplay that. I’m most curious about defensive improvements. Time will tell.

I can honestly say defense is all i care about right now. I would love to see some 55-50 rock fights if it means they dont get run off the floor more nights than not