sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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World Elephant Day asks everyone to "help conserve and protect elephants from the numerous threats they face" and "to experience elephants in non-exploitive and sustainable environments where elephants can thrive under care and protection." It is a day to express concern, share knowledge, and support solutions for the better care of captive and wild elephants; it is a day to honor elephants, spread awareness about the critical threats they face, and to support solutions to help ensure their survival. It brings "attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants" and is "a vehicle by which organizations can rally together to give voice to the issues threatening elephants."
The day was thought up in 2011 by Canadian filmmakers Patricia Sims and Michael Clark, and by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, specifically by Sivaporn Dardarananda, the Foundation's Secretary-General. It was founded on August 12, 2012, by Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, and first observed on that day. The Foundation is a non-profit that was started in 2002 as a Royal Initiative of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand, and has the mission of acquiring captive elephants and reintroducing them to live as wild elephants in protected forest habitats. The day was created in part to celebrate the work of the Foundation. On the first World Elephant Day, Patricia Sims and Michael Clark released Return to the Forest, a documentary which focuses on the work of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation.
SU News
Quadir Copeland brings a creative flair to Syracuse: ‘We knew he was going to be wearing Orange’ (PS; $; Curtis)
Quadir Copeland’s basketball journey began on hardwood floors and blacktops throughout his home of Southwest Philadelphia.
The game has taken the highly-recruited point guard a couple of hours west to Gettysburg, Pa., back east to Burlington, N.J. and all the way south to Bradenton, Fla., where he’ll spend his upcoming final season of high school hoops at national powerhouse IMG Academy.
After that, Copeland will bring his talents to Central New York to play for Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange.
“I’ve seen a lot coming from where I’m from so being able to show kids — people that I love, that I’ve been around since I was a kid — that it’s possible is amazing,” Copeland said Tuesday after announcing his verbal commitment to SU. “And that’s really the whole goal. It’s just setting up things for the next generation.”
Copeland started the year outside of the Top 100 in the Class of 2022 national rankings, but surged into the No. 85 spot on in late May. The national spotlight isn’t something that intimidates him. It’s something that Copeland has been working towards his entire life.
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Syracuse Basketball: Visit from 4-star, top-25 commit soon would rock (itlh; Adler)
In June, Syracuse basketball welcomed numerous 2022 targets to the Hill for official visits, including four-star wing Justin Taylor, who committed to the Orange at the end of that month.
What I’d love to see is a visit to Central New York soon by another commit of the team’s in the 2022 cycle, fellow four-star wing Kamari Lands.
Lands is a junior at Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., and he is poised for a stellar senior year there. Prolific Prep has a loaded roster ahead of the 2021-22 stanza, and the team is certainly being viewed as a national-title contender in the upcoming term.
A recent post on Lands’ Instagram page could prove an indication that he is thinking about taking an official visit to Central New York in the near future. We’ll obviously keep tabs on this.
Syracuse basketball 2022 commit Kamari Lands may visit the Hill in the coming months.
The 6-foot-8 Lands, who can reportedly suit up at small forward as well as both guard positions, represents one of the highest-rated recruits for the ‘Cuse in recent program history.
He’s also one of numerous top-flight talents to commit to the Orange between the team’s 2021 and 2022 classes, which is an encouraging sign that Syracuse basketball recruiting efforts are trending in a positive direction.
Not too long ago, Lands performed quite well for the Los Angeles-based Team Why Not during Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League, which culminated at the 2021 Peach Jam tournament in North Augusta, S.C.
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Syracuse recruiting: How did the Orange turn a corner with their best class in years? (theathletic.com; $; Gutierrez)
Justin Taylor’s visit to Syracuse was punctuated by a brief film session at the Melo Center, where the coaches presented highlights featuring Taylor and the man he’ll replace, Buddy Boeheim. One clip showed Boeheim coming off down screens for open 3s on the wing. The next showed Taylor scoring off a similar move in high school. The tape continued for a few minutes, with the Orange’s shooting guard of the present and their shooting guard of the future, side by side. The back-and-forth inspired Taylor, a four-star prospect from Virginia, who also appreciated the opportunity to guard Boeheim in a five-on-five scrimmage.
“Justin’s a visual guy, so that rang true for him,” his mother, Kerri says. “They told us, ‘This is exactly how we’ll use you. Take on Buddy’s role. To see it with visual clips said a lot.’”
Taylor committed to Syracuse in late June, citing his relationship with assistant coach Gerry McNamara. But he also credited something else: the sense of comfort he felt when visiting Syracuse, and the vision of succeeding the sharp-shooting Boeheim as Syracuse’s two-guard. The sessions left a lasting impression on him and his mother. Then, a few weeks later, Syracuse landed another guard in three-star point man Quadir Copeland, a Philadelphia native who also visited campus in June. Copeland didn’t mention a film session, but he noted how the staff promised him he could be the point guard post Joseph Girard. His official visit to Syracuse was the only one he made. It became a lead factor in why he chose SU.
“I got to eat with (Jim) Boeheim, which was pretty cool,” Copeland says of his June visit. “I picked his brain over a meal. He has so many accolades and stories for each day of the week. We had a great chat about his career, the guys he’s coached. It made me feel comfortable.”
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What's left for Syracuse basketball in its 2022 class? - The Juice Online (the juice; Gustin)
On Tuesday night Quadir Copeland, originally from IMG Academy, announced his commitment to Syracuse via Instagram over Oklahoma State, Oregon, DePaul, Miami, Maryland, and Penn State.
At 6-foot-6 and 175 pounds, Copeland becomes a dual threat guard that plans to team up with two four-star wings in Kamari Lands and Justin Taylor.
Currently on 247 Sports with just these three commitments, Syracuse has the 11th best recruiting class for 2022 and third best in the ACC. Here is where Syracuse is looking to add with an already loaded class.
JJ Starling, 6-4 G
JJ Starling is a Central New York native and at 6-4 is a four star combo guard currently ranked No. 6 at his position on 247 Sports.
Growing up playing in Baldwinsville, NY, Starling has had the Syracuse staff’s attention since the start of junior high school.
Explosive from the wing, Starling is a flashy player with a load of raw talent. Scoring all around a half court set comes easy to Starling as he can score at all three levels.
Starling is a perfect ball handler to go alongside Quadir Copeland and is SU’s top priority at guard for Syracuse in 2022.
Right now Starling has a top five of Maryland, Duke, Stanford, Alabama, and Syracuse.
Chance Westry, 6-6
Hillcrest Prep native Chance Westry is the highest recruit that Syracuse has outstanding at 30th in the country and eighth at small forward.
Westry is a strong, ball-handling dominant forward that is shifty and quick. With good size and athleticism he is known to be able to create his own shot and get to the rim.
Recently, he named his top 10, which includes the Orange along with Nebraska, DePaul, LSU, UConn, Auburn, Arizona State, Washington, USC and Maryland.
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Syracuse Basketball: Four 2023 targets could end up in top-10 nationally (itlh; Adler)
A lot of Syracuse basketball fans will interact with me on social media after I post recruiting stories. Some say that the Orange doesn’t get enough top-flight prospects. Others counter that national recruiting rankings mean little.
I’m somewhere in the middle. I take these ratings with the proverbial grain of salt, because such rankings are somewhat subjective. Additionally, Syracuse basketball coaches don’t necessarily recruit for their system based on ratings, but rather based on fit.
Do I want the ‘Cuse to land elite high-school players rated as five stars and in the top-10 across the country within their respective class? Of course.
Conversely, do I think that the Orange can be successful on the court even without these kinds of prospects? I absolutely do.
We’ve detailed numerous times of late how the ‘Cuse has solid momentum with its 2022 cycle, and Orange coaches are also building up a stellar target list for their 2023 class as well.
Syracuse basketball is eyeing multiple 2023 prospects near the top of the pack.
I am the first to acknowledge that unless the ‘Cuse picks up some of these exceptional high-school players, their rankings don’t really mean much at all.
But let’s examine some of these rising juniors and where they presently stand in the 2023 national landscape. For one, the Orange offered a scholarship to five-star Elijah Fisher last summer.
The 6-foot-7 wing is out of Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, Ontario. Numerous blue-blood teams are in the mix for Fisher, who is a consensus top-10 player according to the recruiting services that rate Canadian prospects.
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On The Block On Demand 8-11 (ESPN; radio; Axe)
Brent addresses the meaning of Quadir Copeland’s commitment to Syracuse men’s basketball and discusses the importance of the retirement of four numbers with major significance to Syracuse athletics.
Duke basketball: Should Paolo Banchero be the early ACC POY favorite? (balldurham.com; McClure)
ACC foes won’t find ways to contain Duke basketball forward Paolo Banchero.
It has now been two years in a row that the Duke basketball program hasn’t seen a former player selected at the top of the NBA Draft. According to early draft projections for 2022, that streak will not last much longer.
Freshman Paolo Banchero is already the widely held favorite to be the overall top selection in next summer’s draft. Of course, there is a lot to change between now and then, but he seems primed to be the next one-and-done Blue Devil star that every NBA team would want.
Duke basketball rookie Paolo Banchero already looking like an NBA player
This upcoming Duke basketball season will allow Paolo Banchero to refine and improve all facets of his game. He is a physical and versatile forward with dynamic speed and athleticism. He’s a scoring threat from all three levels. In high school, he did most of his damage in the high and low post but also showed off a unique set of perimeter skills.
As of right now, Banchero doesn’t really have that one thing he does better than almost everybody else, but he also doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound five-star prospect plays extremely hard and with a competitive edge. He has that dog mentality, in which he is unafraid of any matchup and never wants to settle for anything other than his best.
Defensively is where Banchero could really make a big impact both next year for the Blue Devils and throughout his pro career. Given his size, strength, and athleticism, he should be able to comfortably guard both wings and big men. He also has the agility and foot speed to defend the perimeter when he gets switched onto guards.
Over the past couple of weeks, he has been putting in work in his hometown of Seattle. He’s been playing in The Crawsover Pro-Am League, created by former NBA star Jamal Crawford. Banchero has put up monster numbers alongside NBA players, such as Dejounte Murray, Kevin Porter Jr., Marquese Chriss, and Malachi Flynn.
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Other
Upstate Shredding owner Adam Weitsman promised to donate $1 million to local charities if Boeheim's Army won the 2021 TBT championship.Provided photo
Adam Weitsman starts giving away $1 million to charities for Boeheim’s Army’s win. Here’s how to apply (PS; $; Moriarty)
Scrap metal king Adam Weitsman has begun writing lots of checks to local charities as part of his promise to donate $1 million if Boeheim’s Army won the 2021 TBT championship.
Weitsman, owner of Owego-based Upstate Shredding, donated $5,000 each to five charities Tuesday and said he will announce donations to another five Friday. The charities receiving donations on Tuesday were Hope for Heather (Liverpool), Let Me Be Great (Syracuse), Sleep In Heavenly Peace (Auburn), Jenni-Lyn Watson Memorial Fund (Syracuse) and Kulture City.
He said he will continue making donations twice a week until achieving his promise to donate $1 million to charities in the 315 and 607 area codes if Boeheim’s Army won The Basketball Tournament championship. The team, which Weitsman helped to assemble, defeated Team 23 in the championship game in Dayton, Ohio, on Aug. 3.
“We’re going to choose quickly,” Weitsman said. “We want to get the money out into the community right away.”
The money is coming from Weitsman, not the $1 million tournament winnings that the team’s coaches and players split.
Here’s how charities can apply for donations of up to $5,000:
Send a direct message to Weitsman on Instagram or Facebook. Weitsman said he is looking for small charities that do not have national fundraising arms.
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