Another unappreciated Orange great - Rony Seikaly

[Vshukla]

The Billy Owens thread made me think about other guys who don’t seem to get the love they might deserve from fans. One person that came to mind was Rony. He started as an athletic but foul prone player and grew to a dominant low post scorer and very good rebounder. He played great in the post season, including a fantastic run to the final four in 1987. His performance against Schintzius and Florida was dominant and he played great against JR Reid and Carolina.

He had a very strong NBA career, including 5 straight double-double years, and he was in the top 20 in rebounds 5 times. He went on to a very successful post NBA in music and real estate and is active in his community.

So why doesn’t Rony get mentioned as a great Orange as often as he should? I recall reading that he and Boeheim didn’t get along but that was a long time ago. Maybe I have a halo effect since his time at SU overlapped mine but I feel like he is in the top 2-3 centers in SU history.

Any thoughts?

 

[Halfmooncuse]

He was a great DJ

 

[stuckinbig11]

Rony has always been high on my list of greats.

 

[sutomcat]

The Billy Owens thread made me think about other guys who don’t seem to get the love they might deserve from fans. One person that came to mind was Rony. He started as an athletic but foul prone player and grew to a dominant low post scorer and very good rebounder. He played great in the post season, including a fantastic run to the final four in 1987. His performance against Schintzius and Florida was dominant and he played great against JR Reid and Carolina.

He had a very strong NBA career, including 5 straight double-double years, and he was in the top 20 in rebounds 5 times. He went on to a very successful post NBA in music and real estate and is active in his community.

So why doesn’t Rony get mentioned as a great Orange as often as he should? I recall reading that he and Boeheim didn’t get along but that was a long time ago. Maybe I have a halo effect since his time at SU overlapped mine but I feel like he is in the top 2-3 centers in SU history.

Any thoughts?

I think he would be in the top 3 centers for any knowledgeable Syracuse fan. That isn't bad for a player who hasn't worn a Syracuse uniform in what, 32 or 33 years?

The fanbase is always going to remember SU players best for what they did their last season at Syracuse. If that 1987 Syracuse team won an NC, his status as a huge Syracuse legend would be forever cemented.

That Final Four run was enough though to make him a special player for many SU fans. Because of that, and the luck of playing in an era where the games were televised on national TV on a regular basis, I don't think he will ever end up largely forgotten, like say Jon Cincebox or Bill Smith.

 

[721Comstock]

Rony had an amazing post-season in ‘87, and went on to have arguably one of the top 5 NBA careers for Cuse alums.

In the “Age of the Great Centers”, he more than held his own for a decade.

Which - considering where he started, is borderline unbelievable.
About all he could do was run, dunk, and foul - and not in that order.

 

[GooseMutt]

Rony is part of the Syracuse Basketball fabric

 

[General20]

Is Rony unappreciated? I never thought of him that way ...

I will say this, I don't think enough people realize that Rony's '87 tournament run puts Melo's '03 tournament run to shame. Both in raw numbers, and in quality of defender the numbers were put up against.

 

[SU94]

The Billy Owens thread made me think about other guys who don’t seem to get the love they might deserve from fans. One person that came to mind was Rony. He started as an athletic but foul prone player and grew to a dominant low post scorer and very good rebounder. He played great in the post season, including a fantastic run to the final four in 1987. His performance against Schintzius and Florida was dominant and he played great against JR Reid and Carolina.

He had a very strong NBA career, including 5 straight double-double years, and he was in the top 20 in rebounds 5 times. He went on to a very successful post NBA in music and real estate and is active in his community.

So why doesn’t Rony get mentioned as a great Orange as often as he should? I recall reading that he and Boeheim didn’t get along but that was a long time ago. Maybe I have a halo effect since his time at SU overlapped mine but I feel like he is in the top 2-3 centers in SU history.

Any thoughts?

I am a big admirer of Rony’s. I think locally, with our fanbase, he relatively short rift with JAB held him back a bit, both in terms of production and sentimtality. And I believe that has been smoothed over, which is great. Rony was always highly opinionated and willing to share.

But honestly, from my vantage, he is far and away our best 5 of the Dome era. And for a program of SU’s ilk, that’s saying something. The only player who could match his skills on the blocks/back to the basket, was Melo. And one was no better than the other.

 

[orange79]

He was a great DJ

Was?

 

[HOFCeluck]

I don’t think I would use “unappreciated” as an adjective describing Rony Seikaly.

 

[HOFCeluck]

But seriously did the OP misspell Billy Celuck because I’m confused.

 

[RF2044]

I don’t think I would use “unappreciated” as an adjective describing Rony Seikaly.

Feel the same way. He's an all-time program great, no question.

also agree with the sentiment expressed above about how amazing his 87-run was during the NCAA tournament. Not sure where that came from, or how he conjured it up, but he was amazing.

 

[newmexicuse]

Not under appreciated by me. rony and rosy are my two top all time favorite Cuse centers.

 

[MSOrange]

In his first 2 years, I think it's fair to say that Rony was not exactly the most popular player in Central New York. He definitely showed flashes of potential, but he was very foul prone and it wasn't unusual to see JB yelling at him. Granted he still had stats that we would kill for out of our center a lot of years.

Before his junior year, he had a stress fracture. Ironically he got treated at the same orthopedic doctor I was a patient at. Once he recovered from that, it seemed like he really turned things on leading to the famous game vs Florida and Dwayne Schintzius and a really good senior year.

 

[RobVTX]

The Billy Owens thread made me think about other guys who don’t seem to get the love they might deserve from fans. One person that came to mind was Rony. He started as an athletic but foul prone player and grew to a dominant low post scorer and very good rebounder. He played great in the post season, including a fantastic run to the final four in 1987. His performance against Schintzius and Florida was dominant and he played great against JR Reid and Carolina.

He had a very strong NBA career, including 5 straight double-double years, and he was in the top 20 in rebounds 5 times. He went on to a very successful post NBA in music and real estate and is active in his community.

So why doesn’t Rony get mentioned as a great Orange as often as he should? I recall reading that he and Boeheim didn’t get along but that was a long time ago. Maybe I have a halo effect since his time at SU overlapped mine but I feel like he is in the top 2-3 centers in SU history.

Any thoughts?

Don't think he's underappreciated at all. JMHO.

 

[Toga]

IIRC Schintzius was mouthing off before the game. Got his ass kicked.

 

[721Comstock]

IIRC Schintzius was mouthing off before the game. Got his ass kicked.

Oh, you RC.
Rony took that VERY personally, and made it his mission in life to abuse mullet-boy every chance he could.

Like so

33 pts to 6.

 

[Eric15]

Yeah Seikaly was great, but I've never gotten the sense that he was underappreciated.

In my opinion, the most chronically underappreciated former SU star is Rudy Hackett.

 

[721Comstock]

Yeah Seikaly was great, but I've never gotten the sense that he was underappreciated.

In my opinion, the most chronically underappreciated former SU star is Rudy Hackett.

Who?

 

[moqui]

i call horseshjt on "unappreciated"
i'd also call it on "under appreciated"

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I don’t think I would use “unappreciated” as an adjective describing Rony Seikaly.

I don't think about him really, like, ever, so I guess in that way Rony can be considered underappreciated by me.

 

[721Comstock]

I don't think about him really, like, ever, so I guess in that way Rony can be considered underappreciated by me.

OiG - Rony Seikaly will see you in Hell.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

OiG - Rony Seikaly will see you in Hell.

Oh snap

 

[Col. Bleep]

Yeah Seikaly was great, but I've never gotten the sense that he was underappreciated.

In my opinion, the most chronically underappreciated former SU star is Rudy Hackett.

Seikaly...not under appreciated. Generally considered one of top SU centers ever...he put in some hard work.

Rudy Hackett was an absolute monster and it's true he's all but forgotten.
He'd be my PF on the all-time SU team (with Derrick at center).
However, he predates the Boeheim head coaching era.

THE most under-appreciated player of the Boeheim era by far is Leo Rautins.
Hard to consider this even debatable.
Maybe most people here never saw Leo play.

Bad knees limited his games and stats.
But nothing he couldn't do.
Could score inside and outside, rebound and defend.
And a SPECTACULAR passer.
The only Syracuse player of the Boeheim era to have three triple doubles.

 

[Toga]

Seikaly...not under appreciated. Generally considered one of top SU centers ever...he put in some hard work.

Rudy Hackett was an absolute monster and it's true he's all but forgotten.
He'd be my PF on the all-time SU team (with Derrick at center).
However, he predates the Boeheim head coaching era.

THE most under-appreciated player of the Boeheim era by far is Leo Rautins.
Hard to consider this even debatable.
Maybe most people here never saw Leo play.

Bad knees limited his games and stats.
But nothing he couldn't do.
Could score inside and outside, rebound and defend.
And a SPECTACULAR passer.
The only Syracuse player of the Boeheim era to have three triple doubles.

One of the very first - point forwards.