sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to National Lost Sock Memorial Day!
We don’t know where they go, but we know they’re always disappearing there. Is there some kind of vortex created within the whirl of hot air and tumbling wet clothes that exists within the drier? Or perhaps within the washer there is some form of strange kraken like creature that exists that eats them, and only the left one. Whatever the case, it is an inevitable fact of life that somewhere out there exists an ever growing pile of missing left socks, and Lost Sock Memorial Day is your opportunity to mourn your dearly departed foot warmers, wherever they may be.
SU News
Tyler Lydon talks about leaving Syracuse basketball, preparing for NBA draft (PS; Ditota)
Tyler Lydon declared with a tweet last March his decision to leave Syracuse University and his college basketball career for a chance to pursue his ultimate dream job.
Lydon wants to play in the NBA. He believes he is ready after two college basketball seasons. He has spent the past few weeks in Chicago, working on his weaknesses, addressing his overall basketball game.
He will report with 66 other players this week to the NBA Combine, where he will partake in exercises designed to measure various body parts and various athletic skills. On Monday evening, by telephone, Lydon spoke during a wide-ranging conversation about how he arrived at his decision to turn pro and how he's occupied his time since leaving Syracuse for his agent's training facility in Chicago.
Here is that conversation:
Take me through your decision to leave Syracuse. What were the main factors you considered?
Lydon: It was a really tough decision for myself and for my family. I sat down with my family and talked everything over. I reached out to a couple people just to get some advice, but really it just came down to me being ready. I truly felt mentally ready, physically ready. I know I didn't have the season I wanted to have, that I was projected to have numbers-wise. And Syracuse, we as a team didn't have the season we had hoped for.
That was tough for me, to leave on a note like that. Obviously, we had really high expectations for ourselves and I had high expectations for myself. It was tough to leave. But what it came down to was me really and truly feeling I was ready to take this next step.
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Syracuse's Tyler Lydon not on ESPN's 'Big Board' ahead of NBA Draft Combine (PS; Axe)
One prominent NBA Draft expert does consider former Syracuse University basketball forward Tyler Lydon a Top 30 NBA prospect.
According to ESPN NBA Draft expert Chad Ford, Lydon made the "next five in" category on his latest "Big Board" rankings.
Ford's "Big Board" ranks the Top 30 NBA Draft prospects after consultation with NBA scouts and general managers.
According to Ford, Lydon's strengths as an NBA prospect include:
- Athletic stretch four
- Excellent shooter with deep range
- Explosive athlete
- Terrific shot blocker
- Can put the ball on the floor
- Needs to add strength
- Inconsistent
Lydon will join 66 other NBA Draft hopefuls in Chicago.
The NBA Draft Combine is the first step in the NBA Draft process for NBA hopefuls and features five-on-five games as well as strength and agility drills at Chicago's Quest Multisport. The event runs from May 9-14. Portions of the combine will be televised on ESPN2
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Duke Poses A Big Threat To SU’s Chances At Jordan Tucker – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net; Dickinson)
Kevin Knox, the No. 10 recruit in the nation for high school basketball’s class of 2017, didn’t have many people in Syracuse watching when he announced his college decision Saturday. The Orange offered Knox a scholarship in 2015 when he was starting his junior year of high school, but SU had been out of the running for the Tampa native for months. Somehow, he still managed to throw another wrench into Syracuse basketball’s recruiting plans when he chose Kentucky over Duke in a classic blue-blood recruiting battle.
Normally, Syracuse fans would love to see Duke lose out on a top player. The Blue Devils already have the best recruiting class in the ACC, and Duke was the favorite to land Knox before he chose Kentucky. Missing out on Knox left Coach K with a hole to fill, and Jordan Tucker — No. 1 most wanted for Syracuse basketball — was the easiest fix. Tucker had narrowed his decision down to Syracuse and Georgia Tech, but there’s always room for a top-tier team such as the Blue Devils in the conversation. He’ll be visiting Durham this week.
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Syracuse Basketball Recruiting: Tucker Nabs Duke Offer, Wilson Has Final Six (itlh.com; Adler)
Major Syracuse basketball recruiting updates to discuss, with Jordan Tucker landing a Duke offer, and Sid Wilson naming his six finalists.
Some good – and potentially bad – developments for the Syracuse basketball squad on the recruiting front as it pertains to the 2017-18 campaign.
Four-star wing Jordan Tucker, a huge priority for head coach Jim Boeheim and his staff for next season’s class, announced via Twitter that he’s received a scholarship offer from Atlantic Coast Conference nemesis Duke.
Tucker, who recruiting analysts thought would choose between the Orange and Georgia Tech, reportedly had coveted an offer from Duke, and now he has one.
It appeared that SU had gained momentum with Tucker in recent weeks, but that goes by the wayside with the Blue Devils in the mix. The 6-7 guard/small forward, who hails from White Plains, N.Y., attends Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga., near Atlanta.
In late April, a handful of industry experts projected via the 247Sports Crystal Ball that Tucker
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Vote for Boeheim’s Army to be in The Basketball Tournament | Otto's Grove (.com; Kelly)
Summer. Ugh. What a bummer time of year, right? Nothing but heat, sun, poolside beers, relaxation… okay, well maybe not such a bummer. But it is seriously lacking when it comes to Syracuse athletics. And that’s why The Basketball Tournament has been such a great part of each of the last two years.
In 2016, the Northeast’s number two seed Boeheim’s Army – led by the likes of Eric Devendorf and CJ Fair – fell to number three seed The Untouchables, which it still pains me to say was a group of Pitt alums. Pitt, unlike summer, truly is the worst. That took place in the regional semifinals.
In 2015, Boeheim’s Army was the top vote-getter in the entire tournament, but was knocked out late in the action by City of Gods in the Elite 8 of TBT despite 14 points from Hakim Warrick and 12 from Devendorf. To make matters worse, taking up just one spot on the roster but approximately 32 seats on the bench was former Georgetown Hoya and current city block Mike Sweetney, who took time out of his busy eating schedule to suit up for the event.
To recap: Boeheim’s Army was eliminated by a group of Pitt alums in 2016, and a guy who is the size of an entire group of Georgetown alums in 2015.
Well, Boeheim’s Army is trying to get back into The Basketball Tournament in 2017. Currently, players on the roster include Devendorf, Fair, Brandon Triche, Scoop Jardine, and Rick Jackson, with other names to emerge as we get closer to the start of the event. The team this year is set to be coached by former SU forward Ryan Blackwell, but Boeheim’s Army’s inclusion in the field – while certainly expected – is far from set in stone.
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ACC anniversary marks a milestone for power conferences (newsobserver.com; Jacobs)
As secession efforts go, the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference 64 years ago Monday was accomplished with remarkable cordiality.
The departure of seven Southern Conference members to form a league of larger, football-fancying schools did not precipitate lawsuits, the payment of exit fees, raids on other conferences, or even a waning of decorum. Once the split was formally proposed at the Southern’s annual meeting at Greensboro’s Sedgefield Inn, conference president Max Farrington of George Washington mildly announced to the breakaway members: “I suggest that you fellows who have presented the resolution go outside near the golf course and talk for awhile.” And so representatives of Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, N.C. State, South Carolina and Wake Forest adjourned to lounge chairs by the pool and ninth green to await the future they had just forged.
Most newspapermen – who at times drank, swapped stories and insults, and played poker with the coaches and athletic directors they covered – had an inkling change was in the offing before arriving at Greensboro. “We knew it was going to happen unless lightning struck,” insists Irwin Smallwood, who covered the four meetings spread over two days for the Greensboro Daily News.
Smallwood, the only known surviving witness to the ACC’s start, sees at play in the Southern’s dissolution the same forces that continue to shape college sports. “Reflecting on it, my memory is that the culture of the haves and the have-nots had come to really play a role,” says Smallwood, long retired after 42 years as a sports and news reporter and editor. “The more I think about it, the more I realize the have and have-nots culture, that whole concept is what created (today’s) five power conferences, is it not?”
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Other
Tilted Kilt restaurant/bar closes in Syracuse (PS; Doran)
The Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery in Syracuse has closed its doors permanently.
The Tilted Kilt, at 3019 Erie Blvd. E. by the Hampton Inn, has a sign on its front door that reads: "We are closed for good."
Officials at the Tilted Kilt said the restaurant closed last week.
"The decision to close was made by the franchisee, and at this time there is no plan to reopen,'' said Kelly McNamara, speaking for the Tilted Kilt.
The Celtic-themed chain restaurant featured scantily clad waitresses in mini-kilts and waiters in kilts, big-screen televisions and bar food. It opened in 2014 in Syracuse.
The Watertown location closed in November 2016 after operating for six years. The location in Henrietta closed in February, after closing once before that.
The Tempe, Az.-based chain has more than 75 locations in 27 states across the United States. They are all operated independently by franchisees.
Two remain in New York: Poughkeepsie and Staten Island.
