Class of 2023 C Luke Wilson (GA) TRANSFERRING TO SYRACUSE (4/21/26)

[sufandu]

Truth always lies somewhere in the middle.

I think you’re foolish if you think our current roster is elite. I think you’re also foolish if you think that there is no value in some of the guys we have brought in.

As AZorange said… nobody knows anything. Outside of maybe a handful of teams, everybody is moesching (see what I did there) a completely new roster. Not every addition has to become a topic of ncaa tournament or a potential doom or gloom outlook from the same posters on either side of the aisle here.

It’s tiring. We know your agendas.

I think it also depends on people's expectations. If people expect us to go toe to toe with the top 10 teams nationally and have a legitimate shot at an ACC championship with a deep tournament run, then the roster is inadequate. If we expect to win enough to be top half of the ACC and make the tournament without sweating the bubble, we seem to be on track. With a roster like this, it'll come down to coaching. We have guys that can help in different ways. Can guys get developed and can GMac push the right buttons to maximize the pieces? If he can, he can point to that next year when portal hunting and fund raising and upgrade the roster more.

 

[djorange1989]

If we don't have a good enough team to win in year one, yes, it will be harder for him to match the amount of money he got this year in year two.

Ok but again, if we have a successful year, then he will have more money. Your statement that he won’t have more money than he got this offseason is pure prediction, not the fact that you made it out to be

 

[bnoro]

I'm hoping Doty is the 2009-2010 version of Andy Rautins. If he comes close to that I'll be very impressed.

Honestly, this is insulting to Andy Rautins.

 

[Niastri]

Yup. Another outlier with one of the best freshman ever. Any team that plays small ball needs something else that makes up for the lack of size.

He was referring, I think, to the 2009-2010 team led by Wes Johnson, Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku. That had junior year Rick Jackson. Both Jackson and Onuaku were relatively short centers, but were big and strong and skilled.

But the engine for that team was elite wing play, with Johnson, Rautins and Kris Joseph leading the team in scoring. The insanely good defense had a lot to do with it as well. It was probably the most dominant zone of JB's career. The team was top10 in steals and blocks, 25th in defensive 2pt% and 27th in 3pt% Opponents literally couldn't go anywhere on the court with the ball without something bad happening to them.

Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine rounded out the rotation. Mookie Jones, Dash Riley and James Southerland were deep depth minutes, but they all had DNP for more than half the games.

It was the epitome of a top heavy JB roster, and a very serious contender for the title until Arinze went down with a knee injury.

Back to the topic of Luke Wilson, if he can be as good as either Rick Jackson or Arinze were that year, that would be wonderful.

 

[Marsh01]

Death….taxes…people on this board complaining about something that we have no clue what will happen.

 

[qdawgg]

Yeah, I like the decisions he made with the staff. First indication that he gets it.

The staff is significantly better than what I expected. Huge piece of the puzzle IMO.

 

[TrickySU]

I think it also depends on people's expectations. If people expect us to go toe to toe with the top 10 teams nationally and have a legitimate shot at an ACC championship with a deep tournament run, then the roster is inadequate. If we expect to win enough to be top half of the ACC and make the tournament without sweating the bubble, we seem to be on track. With a roster like this, it'll come down to coaching. We have guys that can help in different ways. Can guys get developed and can GMac push the right buttons to maximize the pieces? If he can, he can point to that next year when portal hunting and fund raising and upgrade the roster more.

People also forget too that even this past year with poor coaching and the roster Syracuse had, the team still beat Tennessee, should have beaten Houston, and was within striking distance of Kansas. (And yes, I know what happened in plenty of other games...Iowa St., Duke, etc.). Those games and what happened the second half of the season, in my opinion, speaks to the coaching and lack of competitive culture and pride with the team and certain players.

Point is, even last year there were instances that the team could compete with some top teams. The jump needed to win more of those games next year and not be embarrassed in the other games isn't as big as some people think.

I understand people have reservations, but let it all play out. Even just the roster construction part. Wait and see what more is to come.

The roster being put together is built to be MUCH more consistent, steady, energetic, and competitive. People will be surprised.

 

[Cusefan0307]

 

[721Comstock]

The staff is significantly better than what I expected. Huge piece of the puzzle IMO.

Agreed 144%.

Was very glad he didn’t just “get the band back together” and bring over his entire Siena staff.
The outside additions all look VERY solid.

Like many others, I was hoping for a bigger splash in the portal,
and landing at least 1-2 proven “name” additions.

That said - the pieces we do have seem decent, and have the makings of a solid, if not spectacular roster.
Still need another PF and PG, and maybe take a flier on that D2 wing as bench depth.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Honestly, this is insulting to Andy Rautins.

You would be referring to New York Knickerbocker legend Andy Rautins, I assume.

 

[Orangezoo]

Look at the arms. The 7-6 or bigger wingspan floated looks legit. Also you can see why he was a football prospect too. 6-9 250 plus guys don’t typically have that kind of athleticism.

 

[qdawgg]

Brian are you this miserable about other things in your life?

Are you always a when adults are trying to have a conversation on a msg board. It’s pretty fair to say that the current team, scoring is a concern.

 

[qdawgg]

Be better. That was dumb. You're not dumb.

He seems to be quite the dumb ……

 

[IthacaMatt]

Lack of height was not the reason we didn't win last year. We were plenty big enough to win enough games to make the tournament. Being disorganized on offense, terrible substitution patterns, and giving up on the defensive intensity we started the year with is what sunk last season.

I agree, it was lack of defense. But lack of height impacts interior defense.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Ok but again, if we have a successful year, then he will have more money. Your statement that he won’t have more money than he got this offseason is pure prediction, not the fact that you made it out to be

Yes, of course if we win we'll have money again.
How do you like this roster, so far?

 

[Blanko97]

It isn't a take -- at all.

We got a productive player for a fraction of the cost as Estrella. He's probably better than Estrella defensively. Good evaluation from our staff. We only have so much to spend.

In an open market, with talent evaluators out the wazzoo, in the most in demand position in the sport, I have a hard time believing any player is going for a cent less than they are worth.

 

[qdawgg]

Agreed 144%.

Was very glad he didn’t just “get the band back together” and bring over his entire Siena staff.
The outside additions all look VERY solid.

Like many others, I was hoping for a bigger splash in the portal,
and landing at least 1-2 proven “name” additions.

That said - the pieces we do have seem decent, and have the makings of a solid, if not spectacular roster.
Still need another PF and PG, and maybe take a flier on that D2 wing as bench depth.

You summed up my thoughts overall exactly.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I agree, it was lack of defense. But lack of height impacts interior defense.

The defense sucked because JJ, Anthony, and George were traffic cones. The guys we signed on the perimeter this year are ALL upgrades.

 

[Sherman20]

Ithaca Matt is on a mission to win the grumpiest poster of the month award. Doing a great job at it. Very tough competition too.

Matt isn’t anywhere near as grumpy or skeptical as some previous posters who don’t post here anymore. Two3zone would be absolutely roasting this roster way worse than Matt. Not that I’d agree.

But as counterpoint, I’m a tad concerned about having 4 mid-major guys as starters, when JB commented that’s what Red wanted to go away from for last year’s roster (after the year 2 debacle of mid major transfers), so Red and staff added five P5 players in George, Kyle, Kingz, Betsey and Souare, plus holding onto JJ and Freeman. Clearly that didn’t work, but that may be tied to poor coaching and Freeman and JJ and George being disappointments.

I really hope Gmac and Daly can design a great offense and coach it well and Brunt can coach a stout defense, because I think we’re gonna need to rely on coaching to improve the outlook and also develop the players in the off-season.

 

[Orangezoo]

Matt isn’t anywhere near as grumpy or skeptical as some previous posters who don’t post here anymore. Two3zone would be absolutely roasting this roster way worse than Matt. Not that I’d agree.

But as counterpoint, I’m a tad concerned about having 4 mid-major guys as starters, when JB commented that’s what Red wanted to go away from for last year’s roster (after the year 2 debacle of mid major transfers), so Red and staff added five P5 players in George, Kyle, Kingz, Betsey and Souare, plus holding onto JJ and Freeman. Clearly that didn’t work, but that may be tied to poor coaching and Freeman and JJ being disappointments.

I really hope Gmac and Daly can design a great offense and coach it well and Brunt can coach a stout defense, because I think we’re gonna need to rely on coaching to improve the outlook and also develop the players in the off-season.

I think it might be 3 not 4 when factoring M3 might start but point is valid. I do think that the game has changed such that so many teams bring in and start a mid major talent that it’s not as big of a jump these days. Most teams, SU included are targeting kids playing for mm schools in the top 150 up to top 200 or better of Ken Pom which has an overlap of P5 teams too.

Oddly enough Colgate and Cox are sub 200..

 

[sufan59]

Matt isn’t anywhere near as grumpy or skeptical as some previous posters who don’t post here anymore. Two3zone would be absolutely roasting this roster way worse than Matt. Not that I’d agree.

But as counterpoint, I’m a tad concerned about having 4 mid-major guys as starters, when JB commented that’s what Red wanted to go away from for last year’s roster (after the year 2 debacle of mid major transfers), so Red and staff added five P5 players in George, Kyle, Kingz, Betsey and Souare, plus holding onto JJ and Freeman. Clearly that didn’t work, but that may be tied to poor coaching and Freeman and JJ being disappointments.

I really hope Gmac and Daly can design a great offense and coach it well and Brunt can coach a stout defense, because I think we’re gonna need to rely on coaching to improve the outlook and also develop the players in the off-season.

I won't give any certainty that the mid majors guys will translate, but I do think it's a bit different than a few years ago. The efficiency numbers and the measurables of these guys are different and on par with power conference players. Many of them are on pretty significant upward trajectories from previous years to the most recent last year. Only Dual has one more year of eligibility. I'll say this, is GMAC handpicking players at every single position? No, but I feel pretty confident that these guys he is landing are pretty high on his target board and were ahead of guys that if we landed would check the Power Conference box and overall have a flashier feel to the addition that would make the fan base feel better in the offseason. But it's also basketball at the end of the day, so things can get spooky at times, but pretty much every add from these mid majors would be on another power conference roster next season, playing pretty significant roles for those teams, starting or 15 minutes plus per game. Those teams would also be taking a bit of a risk if the games don't translate either to the power conference level. I'm not sure we would say that would be the case a few years ago with some of our pickups then that if we didn't pick them up, they would be playing at another power conference school.

 

[jordoo]

I think it also depends on people's expectations. If people expect us to go toe to toe with the top 10 teams nationally and have a legitimate shot at an ACC championship with a deep tournament run, then the roster is inadequate. If we expect to win enough to be top half of the ACC and make the tournament without sweating the bubble, we seem to be on track. With a roster like this, it'll come down to coaching. We have guys that can help in different ways. Can guys get developed and can GMac push the right buttons to maximize the pieces? If he can, he can point to that next year when portal hunting and fund raising and upgrade the roster more.

I think what the group of people who expect us to be banging with the big boys in the top 10 fail to grasp is that IF we were to get to that point we need to build up to it. The landscape has changed and even if we are say a top 10 Bball program historically we are outside the top 50 in the NIL era. We need to become a quality NCAAT team in the NIL era to be able to leverage our historic success.

On second thought "grasp" is wrong they certainly comprehend the situation its accepting it that eludes them. Acceptance is a much harder thing in general for human beings.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I won't give any certainty that the mid majors guys will translate, but I do think it's a bit different than a few years ago. The efficiency numbers and the measurables of these guys are different and on par with power conference players. Many of them are on pretty significant upward trajectories from previous years to the most recent last year. Only Dual has one more year of eligibility. I'll say this, is GMAC handpicking players at every single position? No, but I feel pretty confident that these guys he is landing are pretty high on his target board and were ahead of guys that if we landed would check the Power Conference box and overall have a flashier feel to the addition that would make the fan base feel better in the offseason. But it's also basketball at the end of the day, so things can get spooky at times, but pretty much every add from these mid majors would be on another power conference roster next season, playing pretty significant roles for those teams, starting or 15 minutes plus per game. Those teams would also be taking a bit of a risk if the games don't translate either to the power conference level. I'm not sure we would say that would be the case a few years ago with some of our pickups then that if we didn't pick them up, they would be playing at another power conference school.

Most power conference teams are picking guys from MM's. The amount of power conference teams picking transfers from other HM's is very slim. Some schools have picked HM transfers and those guys have been huge disappointments at other schools. Fans get excited by players names they recognize. I guarantee if we had signed Jalil Bethea instead of Gavin Doty there would be more excitement by some people despite the fact Bethea has done less than ZERO in college.

 

[djorange1989]

Yes, of course if we win we'll have money again.
How do you like this roster, so far?

I like it but would like it better with another scorer

 

[Sherman20]

I won't give any certainty that the mid majors guys will translate, but I do think it's a bit different than a few years ago. The efficiency numbers and the measurables of these guys are different and on par with power conference players. Many of them are on pretty significant upward trajectories from previous years to the most recent last year. Only Dual has one more year of eligibility. I'll say this, is GMAC handpicking players at every single position? No, but I feel pretty confident that these guys he is landing are pretty high on his target board and were ahead of guys that if we landed would check the Power Conference box and overall have a flashier feel to the addition that would make the fan base feel better in the offseason. But it's also basketball at the end of the day, so things can get spooky at times, but pretty much every add from these mid majors would be on another power conference roster next season, playing pretty significant roles for those teams, starting or 15 minutes plus per game. Those teams would also be taking a bit of a risk if the games don't translate either to the power conference level. I'm not sure we would say that would be the case a few years ago with some of our pickups then that if we didn't pick them up, they would be playing at another power conference school.

True, I don’t think we have any Jaquan Carlos or Lucas Taylor types on this roster where we hope they turn into key guys. This year’s additions all seem significantly better.