sutomcat
2024 Iggy Award (ACC Tournament Record)
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Welcome to USMC Day!
USMC Day celebrates the birth of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps were created during the Revolutionary War.
The Continental Congress of the newly created United States of America, authorized the creation of the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775. It was later renamed the U.S. Marine Corps. It is often abbreviated as USMC.
The Marine Corps has proudly participated in every war that has involved the United States.
If you see a Marine today, thank them for their contributions to protecting our country. Active or retired, they deserve our thanks and appreciation.
SU News
SLOW & STEADY Andrew White brings consistency and experience to Syracuse in final year of college career (DO; Grossman)
The unknown doesn’t faze Andrew White, but he likes sticking to what he knows. That means whipping up a plate of white rice and tilapia when he can, trying mightily to avoid the perils of fruits and vegetables. When he returns home to Richmond, Virginia, that means he’s not long to endear himself again to his five pet turtles.
And on the basketball court — the only location in the last four years he can soundly call home — sticking to what White knows means progressing through the same routine before every practice and game. He throws on compression boots and dips into an ice bath after working out on game days. He’s one of the first to arrive to practice, stretching on his own before looping himself into shooting drills with the other guards.
Much like everything else with White, there aren’t any frills to it. He features the diligence and discipline of an aged soul, caged inside the freakishly athletic body of a 23-year-old, 6-foot-7 basketball player.
“I like for things to be consistent,” White said, “so that’s kind of how I am, generally. Just doing something that I’m familiar with.”
But the biggest constant in White’s college career has been change. Tangled in his web of consistencies is a U-Haul truck and a trio of collegiate jerseys. White wears the scarlet letter of being a double transfer, spending two seasons each at Kansas and Nebraska before selecting Syracuse as his third and final home.
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LONG ROAD HEREFrom one pair of clothes and no family in the US to Syracuse’s rotation, Paschal Chukwu has come a long way (DO; Schneidman)
Paschal Chukwu watched in awe as a high school girls’ basketball scrimmage paced up and down the court.
The 15-year-old had never seen a game that organized, with referees, bleachers and a wooden surface. He forgot, if only for a couple minutes, that he needed a family.
He sat over 5,000 miles from his hometown of Enugu, Nigeria. All he had in Stamford, Connecticut, was a brown nylon windbreaker, an undershirt, white capris, a pair of socks, open-toed sandals, Converse sneakers and a backpack. He didn’t know where he’d sleep that night.
Dave Caputo, Chukwu’s legal guardian at the time, wanted Chukwu to live with him in nearby Port Chester, New York, but didn’t have the means to house him anymore.
Several days after settling on Trinity Catholic High School, then-school president Joe Quinn accompanied Chukwu into the gym that day. His goal: find a family that would take in this 7-foot-2 teenager while knowing next to nothing about him.
“He had no place to go, really,” Trinity Catholic head coach Mike Walsh said.
It was Chukwu’s third stop on his tour of schools, and two months of the school year had already passed. He grew tired of looking and chose Trinity Catholic. Blissfully ignorant to everything around him, Chukwu had no idea where he was headed when he left.
In Enugu, the Chukwu’s hoop consisted of rebar with a slab of wood pinned to the top. When the ball hit the makeshift backboard, the wood often shifted out of place.
Chukwu and his younger brother Emmanuel built the hoop themselves and played on gravel outside their house. They lived in a three-bedroom apartment in a housing compound while their tenant lived in a backyard shed.
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'HIS 'STAGE'John Gillon is finally in position to shine at a high-profile program after years of being doubted (DO; Schwedelson)
All of a sudden, John Gillon faded in and out of consciousness. His right arm had been swelling over the past couple days and doubled its normal size as he sat in his sixth grade classroom.
Gillon couldn’t bend his right arm because a cyst formed between his elbow and shoulder. If anyone touched his arm, Gillon said it felt like he was being stabbed.
His mom, Phyllis Gillon, rushed him to the pediatrician and then to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. John was diagnosed with a staph infection, which developed into MRSA, and the cause was unknown. As the infection spread to his hip, he underwent emergency surgery and spent the next eight days with Phyllis in the hospital.
“John almost died,” Phyllis Gillon said.
“John shouldn’t be here.”
On one night, at least two patients on John’s floor died of MRSA. Fearing he’d suffer the same fate, John forced himself to stay awake.
“Knowing that you’re close to death makes you value life more,” John said. “It makes you have a certain appreciation for life and the opportunities that I have.”
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Syracuse basketball predictions: How will Orange fare in 2016-17 season? (PS; Staff)
Mike Waters:
SU regular season record 24 7
I went through the schedule game by game and got to 247. That might be a tad optimistic. The Orange has a very tough schedule, which at some point will take its toll. Still, Jim Boeheim has a very talented team.
If the Orange can navigate a rigorous nonconference schedule with no more than two losses, Syracuse will challenge Duke and UNC for ACC supremacy.
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Sarina Morales On Working At ESPN And Her Path To Get There (thespun.com; Hladik)
Sarina Morales Q&A: On Her Bronx Roots, The Syracuse Media Mafia, Songs About Gronk And More
ESPN’s Sarina Morales spoke with us about growing up in the Bronx, what it means to be a Syracuse alum, and how she ended up singing about the NFL.
Sarina Morales is one of the rising stars at ESPN. The Syracuse University graduate is on the team for the early morning SportsCenter from 7-10 a.m. Her journey to Bristol is a little bit atypical, and she sat down to talk about it with us, in addition to other topics.
The Spun: You graduated from Syracuse, which is obviously well-known for its communications and journalism programs. How and why did you decide you wanted to get into that field?
SM: I went to Syracuse with the intention of getting a degree in broadcast journalism from Newhouse. I grew up in the Bronx. I played baseball for 10 years. I don’t look like I played baseball but I still go to the cages. I was like, you know what, I have all this knowledge of the game, I like writing a lot and I like asking questions. So when I went to Syracuse, right off the bat, I wanted to be the next Yankees sideline reporter. That’s all I knew. I grew up watching Yankee games all the time with my dad. I emailed Suzyn Waldman back when we had AOL emails. I thought that was like the thing for me to do.
The Spun: After you left school, you kind of had an atypical experience starting off your career. What was that like?
SM: I graduated from Syracuse in 2008, and the market crashed. It was hard. I couldn’t get a local news job out of school…To be at Syracuse, knowing that is the place to be and get a degree in journalism, I felt alright. But then when I left—my mom is a schoolteacher, my dad works for the projects—there’s no one in my family that knows anything about reporting. When I sent out my tape, I didn’t even know if I sent it out right or maybe I didn’t ask my professors the right questions. I sent out my tape, and I didn’t hear back from anybody. I couldn’t get a job. I ended up moving to London and traveled around Europe for a year. That was a really great experience. When I got back in 2009, I applied for a job at Nike.
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Calipari expected to land first commitments for UK’s 2017 class Thursday (kentucky.com; Roberts)
Three high school basketball prospects who have been on Kentucky’s priority list for months will announce their college decisions Thursday, and the Wildcats look to be in good shape with at least two of them.
Nick Richards — a 6-foot-11 center from Queens, N.Y. — will go first, scheduled to announce his college choice at 2 p.m., at his high school, The Patrick School in New Jersey.
Richards has taken two visits to UK over the past few weeks and has not yet visited his other two finalists, Arizona and Syracuse. At their request, this network is being blocked from this site. national analyst Evan Daniels told the Herald-Leader on Wednesday that he fully expects Richards to pick UK. That would make him the Wildcats’ first commitment for the class of 2017.
Should Richards choose the Cats, he likely won’t have to wait long to find out who one of his future teammates will be.
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Jim Boeheim on Matthew Moyer's redshirt season: 'It’d be foolish for him to play this year' (DO; Grossman)
It took only a week into exhibition season for Syracuse’s heavily-lauded depth to take a hit. The program announced Tuesday afternoon that freshman forward Matthew Moyer will redshirt this year due to “preseason time missed with an injury,” according to head coach Jim Boeheim.
Over the summer, Moyer sustained turf toe in his right big toe, sidelining him for several weeks. Just before the injury, Moyer said, he felt he was at the peak of his basketball career. “Everything was coming together,” he said, until it officially fell apart for the 2016-17 season on Tuesday.
“He would be the ninth, 10th man, and that guy doesn’t play much anyway,” Boeheim said after SU’s 97-64 win over Le Moyne on Tuesday night. “He’s not in shape. It’d be foolish for him to play this year when he can play at the other end (and) have a senior year like Trevor Cooney did last year.”
Moyer played only nine minutes and didn’t score in SU’s 83-65 exhibition win last Tuesday against Indiana University of Pennsylvania. There was speculation Moyer might redshirt this season anyway, purely because of the team’s depth. Going into Friday’s season-opener against Colgate, there isn’t any guesswork left. Syracuse will lean on a nine-man rotation of Frank Howard, Andrew White, Tyler Roberson, Tyler Lydon, Dajuan Coleman, Paschal Chukwu, John Gillon, Taurean Thompson and Tyus Battle.
ACC Now Podcast: Which Hall of Fame coach retires first? (newsobserver.com; Murphy)
The 2016-17 college basketball season tips off Friday with 13 of the ACC’s 15 teams in action.
It’s the perfect time launch our new ACC Now Podcast, a weekly show dedicated to the best men’s basketball conference in the country. Each week, host Brian Murphy will be joined by figures from around the conference, including top writers from The News & Observer, to discuss the biggest storylines in the ACC.
The N&O’s Joe Giglio joined the show for its first episode, a season preview looking at the top teams in the league, including Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse and N.C. State.
The conversation also touched on Boston College’s chances of ending its lengthy conference losing streak, the ACC’s chances of getting 10 or more teams into the NCAA tournament — and a surprising take on which of the league’s Hall of Fame basketball coaches might retire after the 2016-17 season.
“I think this is it for (Duke’s) Mike Krzyzewski,” Giglio said. “... What is there left for him, seriously? He’s got five titles, three Olympic gold medals, he already owns the all-time wins records, he’s not going to catch (former UCLA coach) John Wooden for Final Fours or championships and he has a guy in place who has done really great work for him and would be a great successor.”
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ACC Basketball: 2016-17 preseason all-conference teams (keepingitheel.com; Cockrum; photo gallery)
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Without further ado, take a look at Keeping It Heel’s 2016-17 ACC preseason awards and predictions.
First Team All-ACC
Joel Berry II, North Carolina
Berry returns to a UNC team that finished as the national runner-up and he’ll do his best to fill the void left by Marcus Paige.
Dennis Smith Jr., North Carolina State
Smith is the only freshman on my first team All-ACC, but his skill, versatility and star-power will validate the selection.
Grayson Allen, Duke
Allen is one of the deadliest shooters in college basketball and the heavy favorite for national player of the year honors.
Jaron Blossomgame, Clemson
Perhaps the lone bright spot on a Clemson team that will struggle to make the NCAA Tournament, Blossomgame will shine on his way to a terrific senior season.
Tyler Lydon, Syracuse
This super sophomore could’ve gone to the NBA as a high first round pick, but chose to return to Syracuse for his second season under head coach Jim Boeheim.
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TNIAAM predictions: Can the Orange get back to Final Four? (TNIAAM; Staff)
The 2016-2017 Syracuse Orange basketball team comes into the college basketball season ranked at the No. 19 spot. Many Syracuse fans think the Orange are vastly underrated, deserving of a top ten ranking with the belief that Jim Boeheim’s club could return to the Final Four.
With that in mind, the TNIAAM staffers got together to give its predictions on the upcoming season that officially tips off on Friday. Without further ado, let’s dive right in.
Sean Keeley
23-8 regular season: Final Four
Here’s my hope for the 2016-2017 Syracuse basketball team. They’re really good but slightly disappointing in the regular season. Maybe it’s a Too Many Cooks situation and they need some time to gel as a unit. An eight-loss regular season is nothing to sneeze at but it’s not elite. And that’s okay, it takes the pressure off and let’s the Orange improve as the year goes on, peaking at the right time. As a four-seed in the NCAA Tournament, they kick it into high gear at the right time, clamp down on defense and make a second consecutive Final Four appearance. I don’t have the huevos to say what happens after that, but I’m happy setting the bar high. Blame Boeheim for being so positive (for him, at least).
John Cassillo
24-7 regular season: Elite Eight
I know, #disloyal and all that, but as we all know, the NCAA Tournament is a crapshoot based entirely on matchups versus the actual “best team.” Syracuse has tourney experience and may be among the better teams entering the postseason. I just have some pause around the defense. Long SU’s calling card for tournament success, defense may not be as strong for the Orange as it has been in year’s past. They get derailed before the Final Four, but this year’s far from a failure.
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Syracuse guard Andrew White watched Steph Curry to overcome shooting doldrums - The Juice Online (the juice; McGlynn)
Syracuse’s recruiting class received a lot of attention during the summer. Fans were excited to see Tyus Battle, Taureen Thompson and Matthew Moyer, all four-star recruits, bolster a roster full of talent returning from last year’s Final Four run.
In the end though, the Orange landed a much more accomplished contributor. Senior forward Andrew White announced in late August that he was headed to Syracuse to play his final year of eligibility.
White’s fit with SU was on display as Syracuse routed LeMoyne in its final exhibition game on Tuesday night 97-64. White led all scorers with 24 points, hit 6 of 10 3-pointers and finished 8 for 12 from the field.
“John [Gillon] and Frank [Howard] did a good job getting me the ball,” White said.
This is a huge turn around from last week when White finished the game with just 8 points on 2 for 9 shooting.
“I watched the Warriors game the other night, Steph Curry went 0-10 from the 3-point line. It broke a 150-plus game streak of him hitting a three,” White said. “Then I watched him hitting 13 threes to break the record. It’s all about that mindset as a shooter.”
Similar to Curry’s, White’s collegiate career has not been typical by any means. Following two underwhelming years at Kansas where he failed to win much playing time under Kansas Head Coach Bill Self, White sat out a year to make the switch to Nebraska.
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Schedule Analysis — 2016 Syracuse Basketball preview - The Juice Online (the juice; Stechschulte)
If you enjoyed not hearing the word “cupcake” in regards to Syracuse’s non-conference schedule last season, well, consider that fun while it lasted. Only two early season opponents appear in the pre-season Top 25, #9 Wisconsin and #18 Connecticut. The only other team to merit votes in the preseason polls who appears on the Orange’s schedule early in the season is Monmouth. Monmouth was the MAAC regular season champion last year, but lost in their conference tourney and was bounced from the NIT in the second round, finishing with a 28-8 mark.
SU, however, will more than make up for that relatively light early season slate when they get into ACC play. Four of Syracuse’s conference mates are ranked in the top 13 teams in the nation, including the nearly unanimous #1 Duke Blue Devils. At least the Orange will see them at the Carrier Dome. Then again, that Duke game will come in the middle of a four-game stretch bookended by a home-and-home set with #13 Louisville. The other two ranked teams, #6 North Carolina and #8 Virginia, are split between home and the road, the latter coming to the Dome.
In addition to the four top-25 teams, five other ACC teams earned votes in the preseason poll. Among them, the Orange will host Florida State and Miami, while traveling to NC State, Virginia Tech, and Notre Dame. All told, ten of SU’s 18 conference matchups will be against a team who got at least one vote in the preseason poll.
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Roster Overview — 2016 Syracuse Basketball preview - The Juice Online (the juice; Stechschulte)
Syracuse has a mix of experience and youth on the 2016-17 squad. Here’s a look at each player on this year’s team and an analysis of how the roster shakes out:
WHO’S BACK:
- DaJuan Coleman (redshirt senior 6’9” center) – Coleman returned from a significant knee injury to start all 37 games last season, averaging just shy of five points and five rebounds per game in 17.5 minutes of action.
Tyler Roberson (senior 6’8” forward) – Roberson also started all 37 contests last season and established career highs of 9.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Highlighted by a 14-point, 20-rebound effort at Duke, Roberson posted seven double-doubles last season. - Paschal Chukwu (redshirt sophomore 7’2” center) – After spending a year sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules, Chukwu joins the active roster with three seasons of eligibility remaining. He averaged 2.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks in limited action as a freshman at Providence.
Frank Howard (sophomore 6’5” guard) – In brief minutes (10.5/game) as a freshman, Howard posted a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Howard posted a season-best six assists against both Louisville and Georgia Tech, the latter in only 14 minutes of play. - Tyler Lydon (sophomore 6’9” forward) – Lydon was a versatile sixth-man last season, averaging 10.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while hitting 40.5% of his three-pointers. Voted a preseason Third-Team All-American and All-ACC Second Team member coming into the upcoming season, Lydon averaged 1.8 blocks per game last season and rejected 20 shots in five NCAA Tournament games last season.
Syracuse Orange 2016-17 Basketball Team Preview and Prediction (athlonsports.com)
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2015-16 RECORD (ACC):23–14 (9–9)
2015-16 POSTSEASON: NCAA: Lost to North Carolina 83–66 in the Final Four
2016-17 PREDICTION: Ninth in ACC
KEY LOSSES:
G Trevor Cooney (12.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.3 apg)
G Michael Gbinije (17.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.3 apg)
G Malachi Richardson (13.4 ppg, 2.1 apg)
Frontcourt
For a team with only nine scholarship players, Syracuse is very deep across the backline. Boeheim has three players who saw starters’ minutes last year. DaJuan Coleman and Tyler Roberson are the returning starters, but Tyler Lydon is the emerging star. The 6'8" Lydon came off the bench but still averaged 30.3 minutes per game. Lydon can drill it from 3-point range — he made 40.5 percent of his shots from beyond the arc as a freshman — and also possesses elite athleticism. He blocked 20 shots in the Orange’s five NCAA Tournament games, including a game-saving rejection in the Sweet 16 against Gonzaga.
Coleman, a 6'9" fifth-year senior, returns after starting every game at center in 2016. That was an accomplishment for the injury-plagued big man, who had missed all or part of each of his first three seasons at Syracuse due to two knee injuries. Coleman expects to be a much-improved player after finally getting a summer to work on his game instead of rehabbing.
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Other
Is the PS4 Pro worth the upgrade? (PS; The Tylt)
Sony has changed the game. The electronics giant just dropped the PlayStation 4 Pro—with roughly double the processing power of the original PS4—in the middle of a console life cycle. It offers support for 4K HDTVs and better visuals for VR. While the system "refresh" is unprecedented, many tech writers say the console is a bargain at $400. Critics say the move could fragment the market and is a worthless upgrade for gamers who already own a PS4. What do you think? Vote below!
PERSPECTIVES
The PlayStation 4 Pro is more powerful and has more features than the original PS4, with a compelling price tag. But is it worth the upgrade? Tech reviewers aren't even sure:
I've had one in my apartment for about five days now, and so my co-workers are asking: "Should I buy one? Should our readers buy one?"
And the answer right now is that I really don't know yet.
But if you're the kind of person who needs the best, the PlayStation 4 Pro clearly fulfills that need. And if you're not gaming with the best, why even game at all?
For the majority of players, the whys and wherefores are largely redundant. What matters is how the games look and how they run. And the answer is ... very well indeed.
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