sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to National Animal Crackers Day!
Animal-shaped cookies similar to animal crackers were being eaten in the United Kingdom in the 1800s. By the 1870s, animal crackers, which are a type of snack and not a brand, were being made in the United States. The Stauffer Biscuit Company started making them in 1871. The most popular brand, originally known as Barnum's Animals, began being made in 1902 by the National Biscuit Company (now known as Nabisco). They were named after P.T. Barnum and were sold in small packages that were designed to look like circus trains. The packages had a string at their top and were intended to be hung on Christmas trees. Now known as Barnum's Animals Crackers, they have been shaped into 37 types of animals throughout the years. In general, animal crackers are usually shaped into zoo or circus animals such as lions, tigers, bears, elephants, and monkeys.
SU News
The ACC is Anyone’s Conference in 2019-20 – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net; Aki)
Last year was one of the more entertaining years in recent memory for the ACC. It all culminated with a heart-stopping run by the Virginia Cavaliers to cut down the nets.
But there’s a lot of change that’s going to take place between the final buzzer in Minneapolis and when the season tips off next fall. A lot of talent is being flushed out of the conference, which could open up the ACC race for next year.
Per usual, a number of ACC players are headed to the draft. But this crop is particularly special. Duke is set to lose its three best players in Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish. Virginia will do the same with Ty Jerome, Deandre Hunter and Kyle Guy declaring, albeit Guy leaving the door open for a return to school. UNC may be the team hurting the most from departures. They are preparing for life without Cam Johnson, Kenny Williams, Luke Maye, Nassir Little and Coby White.
,,,
Syracuse basketball: How will ACC’s 20-game schedule impact Orange’s non-conference slate? (PS; Waters)
Kip Wellman, Syracuse’s director of basketball operations, works with Jim Boeheim on the Orange’s schedule.
Wellman describes the annual process as “like putting a puzzle together without the border pieces.’’
The puzzle will get even more complicated this year as Wellman and Boeheim try to put together a non-conference schedule that will be narrowed by two games as the ACC expands its conference schedule to 20 games for the 2019-20 season.
“It has definitely impacted everybody in the league,’’ Wellman said recently. “There’s not much margin for error in the non-conference. You can easily schedule yourself into a tough situation.’’
In each of the last two years, a well-designed non-conference schedule has helped Syracuse earn an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.
In 2018, Syracuse played non-conference games against Kansas, Maryland, Connecticut, Georgetown, Buffalo and St. Bonaventure. That schedule, plus wins over Maryland, UConn, Georgetown and Buffalo, made up for Syracuse’s 8-10 ACC record.
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Join Dale Shackleford and Roosevelt Bouie to preview the upcoming Syracuse Mens Basketball team!
Loyalty begets loyalty: John Bol Ajak's journey to the Orange | The NewsHouse (thenewshouse.com; Rosenfeld)
This time a year ago, Syracuse basketball recruit John Bol Ajak was preparing for the April evaluation periods where he would be playing in front of scores of major college coaches on the Nike EYBL circuit with his Philly-area AAU club, Team Final.
Although he’d be displaying his talents in front of potential suitors from across the country, the future Syracuse signee had a good idea where he’d be spending his college years, and it wasn’t on the Hill. At the time, Villanova was coming off its second national championship in three seasons and while Ajak was considering other big-time programs like Georgetown, Wake Forest and Syracuse, he thought he would play out April and eventually commit to the national champs.
Then came the evaluation period. To put it mildly, Ajak struggled. Anyone watching could see that he was not himself, as he limped his way to averages of just two points and four rebounds per game that spring for Team Final, with twice as many turnovers as assists and only two blocks in 12 games.
In the cutthroat world of college basketball recruiting, scholarship offers can evaporate within a matter of weeks. Before he knew it, one school after another had stopped texting, stopped calling and stopped showing up to his games — Villanova included.
“It was the toughest time of my life. That was really tough, to get all the hype and high-major offers, and then come the spring…” Ajak recollected in a phone interview before trailing off. “I didn’t have a good spring, I was playing very bad because of the injury and the team we had, we didn’t really mesh really well.”
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The 2-3 zone: Keeping Syracuse basketball relevant - The Juice Online (the juice; Stechschulte)
If you actually read the headline, here’s my follow-up: It’s true.
There is no need for the common responses of “we need to play man,” “we should have another defense to switch to,” “we need to press,” “zone defense is for (derogatory comment),” and so on.
College basketball’s statistical savant, Ken Pomeroy, compiles advanced statistics, which he shares with the world at kenpom.com. Two of his most basic are adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency. They measure the average number of points a team scores (offensive) or allows (defensive) over 100 possessions based on the quality of the opponents said team has played.
His statistical analysis has led to one common thread about national championship teams: They almost always are in the top 15 in both adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency.
Of the squads in this season’s Final Four, Virginia and Michigan State fit that profile (the Cavaliers in the top five in both categories while the Spartans are in the top ten). Texas Tech sports the top defense, but stands 25th on the offensive side of the coin, and Auburn is No. 6 on offense, but trails at No. 36 on defense.
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UVA lands NC 3-star forward Justin McKoy - ACCSports.com (accsports.com; Geisinger)
UVA LANDS NC 3-STAR FORWARD JUSTIN MCKOY
Up in Charlottesville, it is busy times for Virginia Basketball. In the week following the program’s national title, three players declared for the NBA Draft, the Hauser brothers left Marquette and UVA emerged as the frontrunner and the team landed another 2019 commitment. Justin McKoy.
His commitment to Virginia comes less than a week after Roy Williams and North Carolina offered McKoy, too.
McKoy is 3-star prospect; 247 Sports rates him as the No. 91 small forward in the 2019 recruiting class. The 6-foot-8 McKoy hails from Cary, N.C. where he plays prep ball for Panther Creek High School. Quickly, the Research Triangle is becoming a serious pipeline for Tony Bennett and UVA.
Tony Bennett showing up in the Triangle in 2020-21 season with a starting lineup of:
Kihei
Carson McCorkle
Justin McKoy
Kadin Shedrick
Jay Huff
Like an older brother punching you with your own fists.
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Other
Syracuse beats out 250 cities to win $3M grant for tech sector jobs (PS; Baker)
Syracuse has been awarded a massive private grant from one of the world’s biggest banks to kickstart its tech sector, train its workers for 21st century careers and make sure minorities, women and veterans are among those who benefit from huge investments being made in economic development here.
Syracuse beat out nearly 250 other cities to win a $3 million grant from JPMorgan Chase -- a major victory for a mid-sized city competing with places like New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.
The grant is one of the largest of its kind in city history, and the most significant private investment yet in Mayor Ben Walsh’s sprawling economic development strategy, dubbed the Syracuse Surge.
Officials will announce the grant details during a news conference Thursday morning.
For local officials, the money is not only a catalyst for spurring tech industry growth, it’s validation that their plans to push Syracuse’s economy into the 21st century are on the right track.
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