Orangeyes Daily Articles for Thursday for Basketball

[sutomcat]

Welcome to National Handshake Day!

The last Thursday of each June, people across the nation observe National Handshake Day.

Of all the various forms of greeting, the handshake is perhaps one of the most ancient.

The origin of the handshake is hard to pinpoint. As it is a non-verbal mode of communication, it may have existed before written records. Theories suggest it was a way for medieval knights, Roman soldiers and other weapon carrying men to check for hidden daggers by grasping each other’s forearms in greeting.

Archaeological ruins in ancient Greece support this theory. The funerary stele depicts two soldiers shaking hands and dates back to 5th century BC.

An even older record in Egypt suggests the handshake held a different sort of power, the power of giving. According to Babylonian custom, kings would grasp the hand of the statue of the god Marduk before taking the throne. This act was repeated annually during the festival of Zagmuk to carry his power over into the next year. Even conquering Assyria continued the tradition.
...

SU News

Syracuse basketball recruiting target Cole Swider to announce college choice on Friday (PS; Waters)

Cole Swider, a 6-foot-9 forward in the Class of 2018, will announce his college choice on Friday. Swider is down to Syracuse, Duke, Xavier and Villanova.

Mike Hart, Swider's coach at St. Andrews in Barrington, R.I., announced on Twitter that Swider's decision will come in a press conference at the school's gym at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

@coleswider21 college commitment announcement will be held in Sage Gym @standrewsri on Friday, June 30, 2017 at 3:30pm.

-- Michael Hart (@CoachMikeHart) June 28, 2017


Swider, listed at No. 48 in ESPN.com's rankings for the 2018 class, recently trimmed his list down to Syracuse, Villanova, Xavier and Duke. He visited the Syracuse campus a little over a week ago. He then visited Duke last Friday and Saturday. He was on the Xavier campus this past Monday and Tuesday. Swider has previously taken several unofficial trips to Villanova, elminating the need for another official visit.

4-star Cole Swider to announce on Friday afternoon (vuhoops.com; Lane)

Mark your calendars for Friday afternoon. That’s when 4-star forward Cole Swider will be announcing his college decision.

@coleswider21 college commitment announcement will be held in Sage Gym @standrewsri on Friday, June 30, 2017 at 3:30pm.

— Michael Hart (@CoachMikeHart) June 28, 2017
The finalists remain the same - Villanova, Duke, Xavier and Syracuse. Swider visited the latter three for official visits in succession in the past week, and opted not to take an official visit to Villanova.

Villanova did receive a couple of unofficial visits during the season and Swider said he’d seen all he needed to see of the Wildcats. At face value, that likely doesn’t bode well for the ‘Cats heading down the stretch.

Swider would be a perfect fit in Villanova’s 4-out-1-in offense. He has great size at 6’8” and is an elite shooter. His game is starting to expand and he’s been one of the best scorers on the Nike EYBL circuit this spring. Whoever gets him is getting a great player.

The interwebs would have you believe that this has boiled down to a Xavier vs. Duke battle, with Xavier considered the odds-on favorite. Don’t write Villanova completely off until Swider makes the call, but we’re not getting the warm and fuzzies on this one.

The ACC-Big Ten Challenge's best and worst games (Si.com)

The announcement of the dates for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge provides an opportunity to look ahead to this season: Which matchups in the event are the most intriguing? Which ones should you ignore? We rank them all.

It may seem ludicrous to already be talking college basketball just halfway through the summer, but there’s a reason for it: on Monday, ESPN, in conjunction with the ACC and the Big Ten, announced the dates for this season’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The announcement got us thinking: Which games should you definitely DVR, and which ones can you fast-forward through? In order of most to least exciting, complete with predicted winners, here we go:

1. Notre Dame at Michigan State (11/30): There’s a reason this game stands alone on the primetime television slate. In one corner, you’ve got a potential national player of the year in Bonzie Colson, a 6’5’’ do-everything forward for the Fighting Irish who resembles Draymond Green. In the other corner, there’s Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo and one of his deepest ever squads, led by Miles Bridges, a possible 2018 lottery pick. Notre Dame will have the offense to stick in this one, but there’s a reason the Spartans are being pegged as national championship contenders.

Predicted winner: Michigan State
...
...
8. Penn State at North Carolina State (11/29): These two teams couldn’t be more different from each other. Penn State returns every starter from last season, an almost unheard of occurrence in modern college basketball. Then there’s N.C. State, which will be led by new coach Kevin Keatts after several underwhelming years under former coach Mark Gottfried. But unlike the Nittany Lions, the Wolfpack don’t return every starter. Instead, they’ll try to overcome a Dennis Smith-sized hole in their starting lineup. Good luck patching that one up right out of the gate.

Predicted winner: Penn State

9. Maryland at Syracuse (11/27): Maybe Maryland fans are glad to see Melo Trimble (finally) leave for the NBA, or maybe they’ll be sad he couldn’t help the Terrapins ever reach their full potential. Either way, he’s gone now, leaving behind the other Justin Jackson to lead the way. Syracuse’s face of the team, Tyler Lydon, is also gone, except he left the cupboard a little more bare. The Orange will be one of the youngest team’s in college basketball this season, and they won’t have a senior on the roster (!!) for the first time in a decade. There’s a reason Jim Boeheim is in the Hall of Fame, but he’s gonna have to really prove his coaching chops this season

Predicted winner: Maryland
...

David Ramsey "On The Block" 6-28 (espnsyracuse.coim; audio; Axe)

Former Syracuse sportswriter and current Colorado Springs Gazette sports columnist David Ramsey joins Brent “On The Block” to talk about Tyler Lydon’s spot with the Denver Nuggets.

Recapping Syracuse Basketball’s Busy Week – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net)

The regular season doesn’t tip off for about half a calendar year, but Jim Boeheim and company have kept themselves occupied during the dog days of summer. This week has been a particularly hectic one for Syracuse. Here is a roundup of what has happened and what will be happening this week in Orange hoops:

Cole Swider Will Announce His College Choice On Friday

The Orange struck out on Top 100 recruits for the 2017 class, however, SU hopes to get a jump start on reversing their recruiting fate for 2017. It starts with Cole Swider, who put Syracuse into his final four earlier this month and took an official visit just over a week ago. The four star is ESPN’s 48th rated recruit and is set to announce his decision at 3:30 on Friday. SU is going up against Xavier, Villanova and, unfortunately, Duke, who swooped in late into the process and offered Swider (sound familiar?).

Frank Howard Underwent Surgery In May

Syracuse.com’s Mike Waters reported the news yesterday that Howard was treated for four torn core muscles. Howard says he began to feel the pain in his mid-section around January, but couldn’t pinpoint an exact day. However, Howard noted that the injury did occur after he lost his starting point guard job to John Gillon.

Howard and Matthew Moyer Will Play For The USA East Coast in Spain

Howard just can’t stay out of the news this week. This time it’s better news. The point guard is playing for USA East Coast, a team comprised of college players from across the nation. The team will play four games in early August against the Venezuela, Japan, Senegal and Mexico national teams. He will be joined by Matthew Moyer who redshirted his freshman season. Two other ACC players will join Howard and Moyer. Notre Dame’s Rex Pflueger and Austin Torres will also play for the team.
...

Syracuse Finishes 44th in Learfield Standings (tarheelblog.com)

...
While UNC was unable to finish at the top of the rankings nationally, they dominated the standings in the ACC conference with 2nd place Florida State finishing 279.75 points behind them. The top 10 ranked schools in the ACC for the year were:

1.) North Carolina (6)

2.) Florida State (17)

3.) Virginia (18)

4.) Notre Dame (21)

5.) Louisville (28)

6.) Duke (29)

7.) NC State (33)

8.) Virginia Tech (40)

9.) Syracuse (44)

10.) Miami (53)

( )* shows where teams ranked nationally
...

Other

Uber won't work at Syracuse airport unless agreement is reached in next 12 hours (PS' Lohmann)

As it stands now, Uber will not be able to pick up or drop off passengers at the Syracuse airport.

That's because the app's officials have not yet approved an agreement with the airport that establishes a per-ride fee and other rules for the app's use there. Lyft last week agreed to pay the airport $2 per ride and $2,500 upfront in exchange for airport access.

Officials from the airport and Uber said negotiations are taking place at this moment. Airport spokeswoman Jennifer Sweetland said Uber reached out Wednesday evening to begin "active discussions" about allowing the app to access the airport.

The airport sent Uber a draft agreement but had not heard back as of noon on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear whether the terms of that agreement were the same as Lyft's.

The apps launch in Syracuse and the rest of Upstate New York in fewer than 12 hours: Both apps have said they will be up and running at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
...

 

[OrangeXtreme]