sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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The aim of Save the Koala Day is to raise awareness of the plight of the koala and to educate people.
The Australian Koala Foundation raises money with sales of stickers, special Koala Day
gifts,items and donations.
The money contributes to the long term survival of Australia's wild koalas and
their habitat. Koalas in the wild face problems as their habitat is cleared.
With housing getting closer, there is also the risk of dog attacks and road
accidents.80% of koala habitat is on private land and the public needs to be
educated on how to help to keep the koala habitat alive and safe.Simple
measures like planting new and maintaining existing trees that koalas like
to feed on and keeping dogs secure at night go a long way to help.
Despite there being large populations of koalas in some areas, other areas are
very fragile due to the degradation of the habitat. Public education is
necessary and the Australian Koala Foundation has done a lot to enable this
including implementing the Save the Koala Day.
SU News
Sidibe returned for Syracuse’s 17-point loss against Clemson on Feb. 6, playing 11 minutes off the bench, scoring one point on a free throw and picking up four fouls before exiting.
Bourama Sidibe participating in workouts, cleared for practice, Boeheim says (DO; Crane)
Syracuse center Bourama Sidibe, who’s participated fully in preseason workouts, has been cleared for practice, head coach Jim Boeheim told syracuse.com on Wednesday.
The Orange’s first official practice will take place on Sept. 28, according to syracuse.com, and Sidibe’s clearance means that the Orange will open preseason practices with their starting center from 2019-20 available to practice. Sidibe missed all but two games last season due to knee injuries, and the effects of the injuries lingered into the offseason.
Sidibe left SU’s season-opening win over Bryant just minutes into the first half, subbing off the court without an apparent limp or injury, and he never returned to the game. An MRI after the game revealed a torn meniscus, which resulted in Dec. 1 surgery that placed him on a timeline to return in four weeks.
But then that estimate kept expanding. Atlantic Coast Conference games started, but Sidibe still remained out. At times, he went through light warm-up activities with his teammates, but he never returned to his spot in the the 2-3 zone in the lineup and the center positions — taken by Alan Griffin and Marek Dolezaj, respectively. Jesse Edwards, the Orange’s backup center, flashed potential at times, but Boeheim reiterated throughout the season that Edwards and Frank Anselem weren’t ready for expanded roles. Boeheim told syracuse.com on Wednesday that Edwards and Anselem have gotten “very healthy and stronger” to the point where their improvements and presence at the center position have turned Sidibe into “a bonus guy for us.”
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Pete Carey is Visiting Syracuse again this weekend
Syracuse’s Center of Conversation – Orange Fizz – Daily Syracuse Recruiting News & Team Coverage (orangefizz.net; Ezeir)
It’s apparent what Syracuse fans continue to vie for: Joe Girard to revert to his stellar play in high school, a recruiting class without a decomittment and a center who elicits a cascade of cheers. SU is best at going 0-for-3 on that wishlist, and can never find a way to fulfill the third.
With that in mind, it’s time to lower expectations of what Boeheim and company can muster up in the center department. The acquisitions of Bourama Sidibe, Jesse Edwards, John Bol Ajak and Frank Anselem have proven the subpar abilities of SU big men. So stop expecting a 7-foot-3 Goliath to stomp all over the ACC. Instead, it’s about compiling depth.
That’s where SU 2022 recruit Peter Carey enters the conversation, with his official visit starting tomorrow.
Is he the most skilled big man in the class? No, he’s far from it. But can he learn the system and develop into the college system over time? Yeah, that’s the goal.
The hope is Carey comes to Syracuse and is a diamond in the rough. The 7-foot Massachusetts native entered the recruiting portal as under-rated and unknown outside of his inner northeast circle. That still elicited offers from St. Bonaventure, Rutgers, Iona, UMass, Bryant, Brown and Albany. So there’s enough consideration to treat him like any other developmental recruit.
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4-star SF Chris Bunch schedules 2nd official visit to Syracuse (247sports; Bailey)
Class of 2022 swingman Chris Bunch has scheduled a second official visit to Syracuse, according to multiple reports. Mike Waters of Syracuse.com broke the news on Wednesday.
Bunch will return to Central New York this weekend -- the same stint that power forward target Peter Carey will be on campus. He previously toured SU in June, an official visit that counted against the five he could take as a junior. The NCAA allows prospects to take an additional five as seniors.
5COMMENTS
The 6-foot-7, 185-pound Bunch is rated four stars, the No. 19 small forward and the No. 72 overall prospect in the Class of 2022 by the 247Sports Composite. A senior at Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, he's also taken official visits to Rutgers and Washington, getting pitched by longtime SU assistant Mike Hopkins in Seattle last weekend. Bunch's offer sheet also includes Maryland, Ole Miss, San Diego State, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Creighton and Seton Hall.
SU currently has two commits in the 2022 class in four-star wing Justin Taylor and four-star point guard Quadir Copeland. Two prospects have decommitted from the program this cycle in five-star point guard Dior Johnson and four-star power forward Kamari Lands.
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Locked On Syracuse - Daily Podcast On Syracuse Orange Football & Basketball: Buddy Boeheim's Path to All-American, Cole Swider Buzz and Where Syracuse Football Stacks Up in the ACC 9/23 on Apple Podcasts (apple.com; podcast; Locked on Syracuse)
Andy Katz released his list of the top 10 returning players to college basketball and slotted Syracuse star Buddy Boeheim at #9. Is Boeheim en route to being an All-American this season? Plus, CBS Sports college hoops insider Jon Rothstein tweeted about the rave reviews Cole Swider is drawing from summer training. What will his role look like for the upcoming season? Also, a number of outlets have a pretty consensus ranking for Syracuse in their ACC Power Rankings. Are the Orange properly rated by the national media?
Tim Leonard and Tyler Aki discuss it all and more on the Thursday edition of the Locked on Syracuse Podcast.
Syracuse Basketball: Possible commitment watch for pair of 2022 targets? (itlh; Adler)
This coming weekend is shaping up to be a major one for the Syracuse basketball 2022 recruiting class.
As we noted earlier this week, the Orange is set to host talented and under-rated 2022 big man Peter Carey during the weekend of September 24. I’ve gone on record in saying that if this official visit for the 7-foot power forward/center goes well, I could see it leading to Carey giving a verbal pledge to the ‘Cuse in the near future.
That is, of course, solely my own personal opinion. But wait, as there is now more to share.
As first reported by Mike Waters of Syracuse.com, Orange 2022 high-priority target Chris Bunch has planned an official visit to the Hill for this coming weekend as well.
Syracuse basketball has two 2022 high-priority targets on campus this weekend.
The 6-foot-7 Bunch is a four-star wing and a top-60 prospect nationally in this cycle. He’s already made one trip to the Hill, and the fact that he’s taking a second official visit to Syracuse basketball is an incredibly encouraging sign, in my humble opinion.
A senior at the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, Bunch recently visited Mike Hopkins-led Washington, and he’s also traveled to Rutgers. I’ve seen reports that Bunch may visit the Scarlet Knights for a second time.
That Bunch and Carey are checking out the ‘Cuse campus on the same weekend is pretty exciting. For me, I think that Syracuse basketball is the leader for both 2022 players, although each has impressive other suitors.
Last month, Carey took an unofficial visit to Central New York to attend the Orange’s annual Elite Camp. He is a senior at the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Mount Hermon, Mass.
I don’t necessarily think that Carey and Bunch are going to pledge their services to Syracuse basketball this weekend. But I’m also not in the inner circle of either 2022 prospect.
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Syracuse Basketball: 5-star targets skyrocket with big new offers, rankings (itlh; Adler)
Two of the hottest prospects in the 2023 class are five-stars G.G. Jackson and Matas Buzelis, both of whom hold Syracuse basketball offers.
The Orange coaching staff got in early with the 6-foot-8 Jackson, a power forward, and the 6-foot-10 Buzelis, a guard/wing. Jackson’s first college offer was from the ‘Cuse, back in August of 2020, while the Orange offered Buzelis last November.
Credit Syracuse basketball coaches for identifying these two stars before their recruitments really caught fire. Whether that will help the Orange win out for either, or both, of them, remains to be seen.
In mid-June, college coaches could begin contacting 2023 prospects directly. After being halted last summer due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the grassroots basketball circuit transpired this summer, where Jackson and Buzelis shined.
These and other factors have helped to fuel these two Syracuse basketball prospects vaulting into the top-10 overall in the 2023 national rankings, according to some recruiting services.
Syracuse basketball is in a recruiting battle for a pair of five-star targets.
Additionally, in recent months and weeks, the scholarship offer list for Jackson and Buzelis has greatly expanded. In all honesty, I think it will be hard for the Orange to land either 2023 prospect, but we’ll have to wait and see how their recruitments play out.
Buzelis, a junior at the powerhouse Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., recently earned an offer from Ohio State, a strong Big Ten Conference team that does well on the recruiting trail, according to a tweet from Pro Insight director of scouting Andrew Slater.
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Duke basketball picked as ACC title favorite by CBS Sports (247sports.com; Flaherty)
One of the most shocking streaks in college basketball is this: Duke hasn’t won an outright ACC regular-season championship since 2006. The Blue Devils have won two national championships over that span, but have only once finished even tied for the league crown, and that came in 2010.
But CBS Sports writer Matt Norlander picked the Blue Devis to snap that streak in Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season. Predicting the winners for each major conference in his article on 50 things to know about the 2021-22 season, Norlander looked at the ACC race.
“I look around the ACC and I still don't see an out-and-out great league,” Norlander wrote. “The conference had zero teams in the top 14 of KenPom last season and just two (Florida State and Virginia) in the top 33. The league ranked fifth in overall performance, which is below ACC standards. Duke hasn't won a standalone regular season title since 2006. (HOW.) Will K get it done in his final go-around? I'll say yes, in large part because of (Paolo) Banchero's ceiling and potential to be the No. 1 pick. Dark horse: weirdly UNC!”
Statistics website BartTorvik.com has projections up, with Duke the top-ranked ACC team at No. 10. The Tar Heels are the second ACC team at No. 20, followed by Louisville (No. 23), Florida State (No. 27) and Notre Dame (No. 29).
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A Decade Of ACC Draft Picks DBR; King)
Scrutinized over the long haul the NBA draft is a good measure of which ACC programs are doing well, at least in recruiting gifted players, and which aren’t. This is a bit of a feedback loop, as players who show well frequently come from teams that do well.
Gather a group of gifted players, afford them quality coaching and support, and chances are a team is going to win. This is no mysterious formula.
And, when a team wins, building a successful tradition, its players attract notice, appreciation and awards. As coaches remind them during their recruitment.
So it is you can gauge the cream of the ACC in a variety of ways, prominent among them the regularity with which players from the same programs are chosen in the annual two-round NBA draft. Even more telling, how many alums (well, itinerant enrollees) go in the NBA’s 30-pick first round indicates players’ value to the pros, meriting upfront investment with guaranteed contracts.
Lately, and in several cases habitually, those ACC programs are Duke, North Carolina, Florida State and Virginia. All but FSU have won a national title over the six most recent years the NCAA has hosted a championship tournament. (Forget the ’20 blank.)
Not surprisingly the draft leaders over those years are Duke’s Blue Devils, with nearly as many picks (25) as runners-up North Carolina and Florida State combined (28).
Mike Krzyzewski’s program last was shut out in an NBA draft in 2010, before he began regularly importing one-and-done players.
In six of the past 10 years Duke had at least three players selected.
(By the way, if the ACC seemed a bit down last season, here’s one tangible if limited confirmation: the 2021 NBA draft saw fewer ACC players selected than in any year since 2013.)
Leonard Hamilton’s FSU program has recently become a formidable draft-day presence. Over the past three years only Duke can match its seven draftees. Over the past five years only Duke’s 15 picks surpassed Florida State’s nine.
At the other end of the NBA talent-plucking spectrum, over the last decade Virginia Tech and Clemson supplied two picks each. That still edged the lone draftees provided by Pitt (second-rounder Lamar Patterson in 2014) and Wake Forest (first-round choice John Collins in 2017).
Meanwhile Syracuse, a faded national power, boasts two draft picks over the past half-decade, fewer than six ACC schools. Jim Boeheim, 77 in November, is now entering his 46th season directing the Orange. We hope he recognizes his program is losing steam. Once sons Buddy and Jimmy finish playing this season, perhaps Boeheim will proactively follow his friend Krzyzewski in voluntarily going out with reputation and dignity intact.
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Other
New Carrier Dome lights will make Liberty pre-game experience ‘something you haven’t seen before’ (PS; Carlson)
Syracuse University will show off some of the Carrier Dome’s new lighting capabilities on Friday night when the football team hosts Liberty, the first evening sporting event with fans since the Dome underwent a $118 million renovation.
Syracuse University Vice President & Chief Facilities Officer Pete Sala said the school plans to make some adjustments to the football team’s pre-game entrance to take advantage of the evening setting and that fans will get to experience the exterior of the building lit up in a brand-new way as they enter and exit.
“The team running out on the field, people are going to see something they haven’t seen before,” Sala said. “I don’t want to give everything away yet, but it’s going to be exciting.
“It’s going to be dark. The orange lights inside are amazing. I’ve shown some people pictures of how orange it’ll be. It transfers right up through the roof. What’s going to be cool is that the video boards, the whole entrance process is tied to the lighting. You’ll see stuff on the ribbon boards, lighting changes. Without the pressure in the facility the fog is cooler. It lingers more. It goes where we want it to go more. All of that has changed. ... With the strobe lights we’re going to have in the tunnel, it’s going to be pretty cool. It’s going to be different for Syracuse.”
While Syracuse will debut some changes on Friday, Sala said he expects to continue to develop ways to utilize the new lights. That includes figuring out ways to put on lighting displays after touchdowns, potentially both inside and outside the building, with light circling the venue.
On the exterior of the building, Sala said that the school has installed 36 LED light fixtures that face up toward the Carrier Dome roof, with another 36 facing downward. He said the school’s contractor, Musco Lighting, installed an initial round of LED lights last year, then returned this year to put in a more optimal version, one that the company has recently developed.
Sala said the school did a test run of the lights earlier this week, a display that was captured by students and shared on social media due to the dramatic appearance.
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