Class of 2017 Last Spots

[longislandcuse]

Do we really want three more freshman? That would be six freshmen and a redshirted Moyer, that is not a lot of roster flexibility going forward. Also do people think Wright can play the wing?

I think Tucker, Wright, Brissett, Sidibe is a monster class to be honest.

Good mix of program guys and possible one/two and dones.

Washington is a 4 year program backup point guard and Moyer is in the mold of Brissett and Sidibe who, along with Chukwu, possibly sets the table for our 4/5 for the next 3 years.

 

[normaliswear]

Kinda want Tucker, Ayala and a 5th year pg for 2017 and maybe get a 2018 Wright commit.

 

[Cusesky8214]

I think if wright has interest in coming in 17 you have to jump at it...how do u tell someone like him that you would rather have him in 18? He's too good not to take even if he is young. 5th year player would be nice for a little experience and so on but we all saw how that went this year for us...it took theme awhile to get use to our system and even when they did our defense was terrible...at least we would have some great young talent going forward to build off of

 

[Cusefan0307]

Wrights a wing and a borderline top 25 player for 2018. You have to take him if he wants to come. He has the highest potential of all our targets.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Do we really want three more freshman? That would be six freshmen and a redshirted Moyer, that is not a lot of roster flexibility going forward. Also do people think Wright can play the wing?

Wright can definitely play the wing.

I'd feel fine loading up on the freshmen.

 

[jordoo]

Kinda want Tucker, Ayala and a 5th year pg for 2017 and maybe get a 2018 Wright commit.

This

 

[jordoo]

I think if wright has interest in coming in 17 you have to jump at it...how do u tell someone like him that you would rather have him in 18? He's too good not to take even if he is young. 5th year player would be nice for a little experience and so on but we all saw how that went this year for us...it took theme awhile to get use to our system and even when they did our defense was terrible...at least we would have some great young talent going forward to build off of

He may not want to come in 2017, but I agree. He was quoted today saying he was definitely going to Brewster.

 

[50YRsofCuse]

So, here is a dilemma that we are going to have between now and 2018. Due to NCAA Penalties, we are limited to 11 scholarships in 2017 and 12 scholarships in 2018. We currently have 8 identified scholarships committed for 2017 (Howard, Chukwu, Battle, Moyer, Thompson, Washington, Brisette and Sidibe). We can have a max of 3 more recruits for 2017 if all scholarships are used. That will leave 1 available scholarship for 2018. If Battle has a decent to outstanding year, he would most likely go pro after next year and that would give us another one for 2018 for a total of two. We have no current Juniors on our roster which would leave no one else clearly leaving (at this time) after next year. Dilemma: We have already offered to over fifteen 2018 candidates.

Our best scenario in my eyes would be to sign Eric Alaya and Hameir Wright for 2017 along with Jordan Tucker or in his place a 5th year PG.
We need ball handlers and scorers now. Believe that we really want and need Hameir Wright now. If we were to sign the first three, then the 2 scholarships in 2018 could possibly be used for Quiverly, PG and either Jalen Smith or Shittu or the like. If we sign a 2017 5th year PG, then that scholarship would be also available for use in 2018.

 

[IthacaMatt]

A grad transfer would also add an experienced college player to a large group of freshmen and sophomores.

I also don't think guys like Sidibe, Washington, Chukwu and maybe Brissett will necessarily be able to contribute impactful minutes next year. We need quality depth that will help the roster next year, not necessarily 2-3 years from now.

I think Sidibe will surprise. I see him playing more than Chukwu as the back up C.
We will need for Brissett to give us something as a back up 3.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I view it as we either keep Howard or go the 5th year route.

White and Gillon were good for us, but I don't love the idea of grabbing 5th year players. I'd rather take highschool players with upside even if it means a lump or two short term.

We've had too many misses in the last few cycles with those program guys. If they aren't ready to contribute by sophomore year, then they are taking up valuable space. In those circumstances, I'd rather have a 5th year guy or even a JUCO than a frosh who may not really have the skill level that's required. I think Washington was a reach and is unlikely to be a difference maker, or maybe ever start for us.

But in our predicament with the roster, we had to have somebody. But this feels too much like a David Patrick or James Thues kind of situation. I'm glad he was HS teammates with a kid on the team, but for every Jonny Flynn, there's a Dajuan Coleman or a Chino Obokoh. It's not any kind of guarantee that the kid will be a contributor.

 

[OrangeZeus]

So, here is a dilemma that we are going to have between now and 2018. Due to NCAA Penalties, we are limited to 11 scholarships in 2017 and 12 scholarships in 2018. We currently have 8 identified scholarships committed for 2017 (Howard, Chukwu, Battle, Moyer, Thompson, Washington, Brisette and Sidibe). We can have a max of 3 more recruits for 2017 if all scholarships are used. That will leave 1 available scholarship for 2018. If Battle has a decent to outstanding year, he would most likely go pro after next year and that would give us another one for 2018 for a total of two. We have no current Juniors on our roster which would leave no one else clearly leaving (at this time) after next year. Dilemma: We have already offered to over fifteen 2018 candidates.

Our best scenario in my eyes would be to sign Eric Alaya and Hameir Wright for 2017 along with Jordan Tucker or in his place a 5th year PG.
We need ball handlers and scorers now. Believe that we really want and need Hameir Wright now. If we were to sign the first three, then the 2 scholarships in 2018 could possibly be used for Quiverly, PG and either Jalen Smith or Shittu or the like. If we sign a 2017 5th year PG, then that scholarship would be also available for use in 2018.

If we are feeling urgency, wouldn't it make more sense to go the grad transfer route again to get developed players with college experience?

It's possible that Wright could reclassify, but he says he's "almost certainly attending Brewster" so I'll take him at his word. He's a great prospect, but if he feels like he needs another year of development in high school, I'm not sure how much value he'd contribute to Syracuse in 2017 anyway. If he wanted to come to Syracuse and redshirt in 2017 that could be interesting since he'd have more access to better facilities and training, but I doubt a prospect of his caliber would be willing to do that. Still, I hope we remain in the mix for him in 2018.

I'd much rather see the staff focus 100% on Ayala and Tucker for the 2017 class. If we get both, then go after one grad transfer. If we only get one of the two, then go after two grad transfers. If we don't get either then we either turn towards someone like Duarte or Dolezaj or else we really hit the grad transfer market to fill out the roster. I'm not sure why people seem reluctant towards adding grad transfers. It's proven to be successful at Syracuse and other school. So long as the staff sees Syracuse caliber talent on the grad transfer market, I'd much rather go that route for a one year commitment than go for freshman who are mostly getting mid-major offers.

 

[50YRsofCuse]

If we are feeling urgency, wouldn't it make more sense to go the grad transfer route again to get developed players with college experience?

It's possible that Wright could reclassify, but he says he's "almost certainly attending Brewster" so I'll take him at his word. He's a great prospect, but if he feels like he needs another year of development in high school, I'm not sure how much value he'd contribute to Syracuse in 2017 anyway. If he wanted to come to Syracuse and redshirt in 2017 that could be interesting since he'd have more access to better facilities and training, but I doubt a prospect of his caliber would be willing to do that. Still, I hope we remain in the mix for him in 2018.

I'd much rather see the staff focus 100% on Ayala and Tucker for the 2017 class. If we get both, then go after one grad transfer. If we only get one of the two, then go after two grad transfers. If we don't get either then we either turn towards someone like Duarte or Dolezaj or else we really hit the grad transfer market to fill out the roster. I'm not sure why people seem reluctant towards adding grad transfers. It's proven to be successful at Syracuse and other school. So long as the staff sees Syracuse caliber talent on the grad transfer market, I'd much rather go that route for a one year commitment than go for freshman who are mostly getting mid-major offers.

Problem with 5th year transfers is that you never correct the problem, you bandaid it for one year. Nothing/no one gets developed per se. I like the part about one 5th year and two high school recruits. Again, if I had my choice in a perfect world, it would Wright over Tucker.

 

[littlereg]

We've had too many misses in the last few cycles with those program guys. If they aren't ready to contribute by sophomore year, then they are taking up valuable space. In those circumstances, I'd rather have a 5th year guy or even a JUCO than a frosh who may not really have the skill level that's required. I think Washington was a reach and is unlikely to be a difference maker, or maybe ever start for us.

But in our predicament with the roster, we had to have somebody. But this feels too much like a David Patrick or James Thues kind of situation. I'm glad he was HS teammates with a kid on the team, but for every Jonny Flynn, there's a Dajuan Coleman or a Chino Obokoh. It's not any kind of guarantee that the kid will be a contributor.

I don't understand people like you that come on here just to be negative. You have no idea what Howard will do and you'vd never seen him play at the college level so you have no reason to say he was a reach or will make any contribution. Seriously why are you a fan if you're just gonna rag on the program and their players? And putting Coleman in the same category as chino is just wrong. Coleman was a 5 star McDonald's all American who's career was deminished by injuries. Chino was just a 3 start who wasn't expect of much and was exactly that, not much. Both are great kids though. You've gotta remember HW was a 4 start at a top prep school committed to a top 25 program. Don't knock the kid because of his rating now. I hope he can come out and contribute big to our program just to prove you and may other naysayers wrong

 

[OrangeZeus]

Problem with 5th year transfers is that you never correct the problem, you bandaid it for one year. Nothing/no one gets developed per se. I like the part about one 5th year and two high school recruits. Again, if I had my choice in a perfect world, it would Wright over Tucker.

No one is saying that we won't "correct the problem." Right now, the grad transfer market is incredibly valuable to us because we are down two scholarships and we are losing players to the NBA on a regular basis.

Your issue seems to be that we won't be developing program players if we go the grad transfer route. I don't believe this to be true. Tell me whose development was stunted directly from Andrew White and John Gillon's addition to the team this past season. I'd argue they were more of a benefit than a hindrance because of their experience and leadership (not to mention their actual talent level). And next year's team is devoid of proven players and leaders outside of the two sophomores who are really our only two truly battle-tested players.

I think this 2017 class is a good class for program development. Washington, Moyer, Brissett, and Sidibe all would appear to be four year players who will likely come in relatively raw and in need of improvement. The same would likely be true for any other freshman we add at this point (Ayala, Duarte, Tucker, etc.). That's 5 or 6 freshman who we would have no clue what to expect from and it's still too early to know what to expect from Frank and Chukwu next year. There's so much uncertainty due to the team's lack of experience that I really hope we bring in at least one grad transfer, and I wouldn't be opposed to getting two again.

 

[50YRsofCuse]

No one is saying that we won't "correct the problem." Right now, the grad transfer market is incredibly valuable to us because we are down two scholarships and we are losing players to the NBA on a regular basis.

Your issue seems to be that we won't be developing program players if we go the grad transfer route. I don't believe this to be true. Tell me whose development was stunted directly from Andrew White and John Gillon's addition to the team this past season. I'd argue they were more of a benefit than a hindrance because of their experience and leadership (not to mention their actual talent level). And next year's team is devoid of proven players and leaders outside of the two sophomores who are really our only two truly battle-tested players.

I think this 2017 class is a good class for program development. Washington, Moyer, Brissett, and Sidibe all would appear to be four year players who will likely come in relatively raw and in need of improvement. The same would likely be true for any other freshman we add at this point (Ayala, Duarte, Tucker, etc.). That's 5 or 6 freshman who we would have no clue what to expect from and it's still too early to know what to expect from Frank and Chukwu next year. There's so much uncertainty due to the team's lack of experience that I really hope we bring in at least one grad transfer, and I wouldn't be opposed to getting two again.

Well, while you believe that the grad transfer market is valuable and it did yield good results with AWIII and mixed results with Gillon, Syracuse can not survive by continuing to bring in one year and two year done players. It takes time to learn a coach's system as shown this year. Syracuse can continue to be 18-14, 17-15, etc as well as bubble NCAA entrants. Sooner or later, there will be a losing record but with the right players, they can build from this. I agree with your statements about Sidibe, Brissette, etc.

By the way, in answer to your question, Believe that Frank Howard and Matt Moyer's development were hurt by having the grad transfers. If there were no AWIII (who was a Godsend for the season) I believe that Matt Moyer would not have redshirted. If Gillon was not there, Frank Howard would have more playing time and perhaps worked out the problems in his game (and in his head). Regarding Moyer, at the time he redshirted there were 10 men on the squad and it looked like no playing time. Soon after, Chukwu went down and Coleman's time was drastically reduced. Even on a team where only 6-7 played, he may have a chance to demonstrate skills and possibly earn playing time. We will never know and it is only conjecture at this time.

No one is saying that we won't "correct the problem." Right now, the grad transfer market is incredibly valuable to us because we are down two scholarships and we are losing players to the NBA on a regular basis.

Your issue seems to be that we won't be developing program players if we go the grad transfer route. I don't believe this to be true. Tell me whose development was stunted directly from Andrew White and John Gillon's addition to the team this past season. I'd argue they were more of a benefit than a hindrance because of their experience and leadership (not to mention their actual talent level). And next year's team is devoid of proven players and leaders outside of the two sophomores who are really our only two truly battle-tested players.

I think this 2017 class is a good class for program development. Washington, Moyer, Brissett, and Sidibe all would appear to be four year players who will likely come in relatively raw and in need of improvement. The same would likely be true for any other freshman we add at this point (Ayala, Duarte, Tucker, etc.). That's 5 or 6 freshman who we would have no clue what to expect from and it's still too early to know what to expect from Frank and Chukwu next year. There's so much uncertainty due to the team's lack of experience that I really hope we bring in at least one grad transfer, and I wouldn't be opposed to getting two again.

 

[normaliswear]

I'd agree that 5th years trans can not be the basis of your program. But the way the game is right now, with every even marginally decent player declaring for the draft, 5th year guys could be an ideal way to plug unexpected 1 year holes. Maybe Moyer and Howard were stunted by AW3 and Gillon. But we needed those guys badly. If you think an NIT season looks bad, how would have looked if we kept playing St John's level games all year? It could have been a program killer type season. The ideal use for 5th years is to plug in a specific role... a 3 point shooter off the bench... a wing defender etc. When Ennis left early unexpectedly had we grabbed a 5th year to play and mentor Joseph maybe he wouldn't have collapsed mentally after being forced in full time when he wasn't close to ready for that.

 

[50YRsofCuse]

I'd agree that 5th years trans can not be the basis of your program. But the way the game is right now, with every even marginally decent player declaring for the draft, 5th year guys could be an ideal way to plug unexpected 1 year holes. Maybe Moyer and Howard were stunted by AW3 and Gillon. But we needed those guys badly. If you think an NIT season looks bad, how would have looked if we kept playing St John's level games all year? It could have been a program killer type season. The ideal use for 5th years is to plug in a specific role... a 3 point shooter off the bench... a wing defender etc. When Ennis left early unexpectedly had we grabbed a 5th year to play and mentor Joseph maybe he wouldn't have collapsed mentally after being forced in full time when he wasn't close to ready for that.

I agree with you we needed White and Gillon badly as well as we would have had a losing season which I believe is coming.

 

[Alsacs]

If we get 3 recruits then I could see Frank gone and we get a grad transfer with his spot.
I feel really good with Tucker as long as we close. Not sure about the other guys.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I don't understand people like you that come on here just to be negative. You have no idea what Howard will do and you'vd never seen him play at the college level so you have no reason to say he was a reach or will make any contribution. Seriously why are you a fan if you're just gonna rag on the program and their players? And putting Coleman in the same category as chino is just wrong. Coleman was a 5 star McDonald's all American who's career was deminished by injuries. Chino was just a 3 start who wasn't expect of much and was exactly that, not much. Both are great kids though. You've gotta remember HW was a 4 start at a top prep school committed to a top 25 program. Don't knock the kid because of his rating now. I hope he can come out and contribute big to our program just to prove you and may other naysayers wrong

Who are you, the guy with 16 posts, to say what my history of posting is on this site?
I hope Washington can contribute, but I'm not optimistic. How long was he holding out for an offer? But you're right, we shouldn't put down kids who have chosen to play for Syracuse. I always wish them the best. So I hope he can be a contributor, but it says a lot that we are still going after PGs, don't you think?

As you will notice, if you go back and read my post, I provided a range of players who came here as the teammate of a player or prospect - Flynn did great, Coleman was limited by injuries and never was really a factor for us, and Chino didn't have the skill to get on the floor.

 

[Fly Rodder]

If we get 3 recruits then I could see Frank gone and we get a grad transfer with his spot.
I feel really good with Tucker as long as we close. Not sure about the other guys.

I could be completely wrong, but last year Kaleb announced he was transferring about two days after the season ended, same with Chino. BJ and Buss announced 7 days after SU's season ended in 2015. It's been a week+ now and maybe with coaching changes, Frank is on the back burner, but I get the feeling that he's sticking around.

 

[Alsacs]

I could be completely wrong, but last year Kaleb announced he was transferring about two days after the season ended, same with Chino. BJ and Buss announced 7 days after SU's season ended in 2015. It's been a week+ now and maybe with coaching changes, Frank is on the back burner, but I get the feeling that he's sticking around.

You could be right. I just don't think the staff will push him out unless they have a replacement lined up. We need three bodies for next year. I would prefer atleast 2 recruits and then one grad transfer. If we could get three recruits and then wanted a grad transfer that could be Frank's spot.

 

[normaliswear]

This year the scholarship losses really hurt us... at least in theory. With uncertainty about Frank's play and the likely hood that Washington will not be ready year one, we have some tough choices. Assuming we could get everyone we want at this point (probably not true but just for discussion) we COULD take Ayala, Tucker, Wright, a 5th year F, a 5th year pg, and keep Frank if we had 13 scholarships. If Frank bounces back great, we're deep as heck at guard. If not, we have plenty to get by with. At forward we have a nice mix of talent and experience. But as is with 11... do we go 5 guards and only 3 freshman forwards? Do we take 4 freshman forwards and trust Frank turns it around? Dump Frank for another spot to give it to a midmajor pg who could be as big of a question? Sorry... I know it's pointless to think about if only. Just still ticks me off.

 

[TinyManInside]

So, here is a dilemma that we are going to have between now and 2018. Due to NCAA Penalties, we are limited to 11 scholarships in 2017 and 12 scholarships in 2018. We currently have 8 identified scholarships committed for 2017 (Howard, Chukwu, Battle, Moyer, Thompson, Washington, Brisette and Sidibe). We can have a max of 3 more recruits for 2017 if all scholarships are used. That will leave 1 available scholarship for 2018. If Battle has a decent to outstanding year, he would most likely go pro after next year and that would give us another one for 2018 for a total of two. We have no current Juniors on our roster which would leave no one else clearly leaving (at this time) after next year. Dilemma: We have already offered to over fifteen 2018 candidates.

Not really a dilemma. We'll probably lose Battle to the draft next year and Boeheim will clear out roster space as necessary, something he has done many times over the years.

 

[pfister1]

Not really a dilemma. We'll probably lose Battle to the draft next year and Boeheim will clear out roster space as necessary, something he has done many times over the years.

Wait! Only that big bad Jim Calhoun does that. JB would never, and I mean never, push someone out. Buss, BJ, Chino, Kaleb Joseph, Mookie Jones, Dashonte Riley, Sean Williams, Devan Brennan-McBride, Greg Davis, James Thues, Erick Williams, LeSean Howard, David Patrick and Sam Spann all saw the writing on the wall and left because they realized they were in over their heads at Syracuse.

 

[jordoo]

If we are feeling urgency, wouldn't it make more sense to go the grad transfer route again to get developed players with college experience?

It's possible that Wright could reclassify, but he says he's "almost certainly attending Brewster" so I'll take him at his word. He's a great prospect, but if he feels like he needs another year of development in high school, I'm not sure how much value he'd contribute to Syracuse in 2017 anyway. If he wanted to come to Syracuse and redshirt in 2017 that could be interesting since he'd have more access to better facilities and training, but I doubt a prospect of his caliber would be willing to do that. Still, I hope we remain in the mix for him in 2018.

I'd much rather see the staff focus 100% on Ayala and Tucker for the 2017 class. If we get both, then go after one grad transfer. If we only get one of the two, then go after two grad transfers. If we don't get either then we either turn towards someone like Duarte or Dolezaj or else we really hit the grad transfer market to fill out the roster. I'm not sure why people seem reluctant towards adding grad transfers. It's proven to be successful at Syracuse and other school. So long as the staff sees Syracuse caliber talent on the grad transfer market, I'd much rather go that route for a one year commitment than go for freshman who are mostly getting mid-major offers.

It seems like that is what is going on. We are in a good spot with Ayala waiting on test scores and we jumped back in with Tucker. I agree Wright seems to be a 2018 kid since he states he's going to Brewster. We have to get Tucker for a visit and sign him. That gives us a starting SF which we don't have. If we get Tucker and Ayala then I would think with the 2018 class in mind we get a grad transfer guard. That would give us 3 spots for 2018 and 4 if Howard doesn't want to stick around behind a grad transfer again.