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Message: [QUOTE="OrangeXtreme, post: 1765600, member: 41"] [MEDIA=twitter]732234447718895616[/MEDIA] [B][I]Syracuse needs Tyus Battle to be elite as a freshman[/I][/B] [I] The worst kept secret in college basketball circles right now is that [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/players/playerpage/2203336/malachi-richardson']Malachi Richardson[/URL] will stay in the 2016 [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/nba/draft']NBA Draft[/URL]. What does that mean for the Orange heading into next season? Tyus Battle has to be good right out of the gate as a freshman. And at times, he has to be great. The four-star wing was recruited by Syracuse to play a major role for the Orange during his first year of college basketball, but I'm sure when Jim Boeheim looked at his blueprint for the 2016-17 season he figured that Battle would be on one wing and Richardson would be on the other. Now those plans have likely changed. Fresh off a remarkable run to the Final Four, Syracuse is on the verge of losing three perimeter starters -- Richardson, Michael Gbinije, and Trevor Cooney -- who logged the majority of minutes last season in the back court. The Orange are going to need [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/players/playerpage/2203333/franklin-howard']Franklin Howard[/URL] (1.6 points as a freshman) to make a major jump as a sophomore and also need reliable mileage from graduate transfer John Gillon (13.2 points last season) in addition to an elite freshman year from Battle. Syracuse returns Tyler Roberson, Tyler Lydon and DaJuan Coleman up front while adding 7-foot-2 Providence transfer Paschal Chukwu and four-star power forward Matthew Moyer. The Orange have ample pieces on the baseline to stifle opponents within the confines of their 2-3 zone, but college basketball has always been a guard's game and nobody knows that better than Boeheim. He'll need consistent play from a fifth-year transfer (Gillon), a huge jump from a player who only made two 3 -point shots last season (Howard), and a monster freshman season from an elite recruit (Battle) to have his team in the top third of the ACC.[/I] [/QUOTE]

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