Orangeyes Daily Articles for Wednesday for Basketball

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Welcome to National Prime Rib Day!

National Prime Rib Day annually recognizes this special meal favorite on April 27th each year. Sometimes known as the “King of Meats,” Prime Rib is a choice cut from one of the eight prime cuts of beef.

A rubbed-on seasoned and then slow-roasted prime rib will give you a deliciously tender, tasty main course. Find many recipes and helpful “how to cook prime rib” guides on the internet for all to use. Some of the most common seasons used include garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, onion, oregano, and thyme.

SU News

Syracuse Basketball: Judah Mintz ranked higher than Orange de-commits (itlh; Adler)

Syracuse basketball has a strong six-member 2022 class, headlined by the recent commitment of four-star Judah Mintz, a senior at the Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., who is a top-10 guard across the country, according to several of the primary recruiting services.

Yet even with this Orange 2022 cycle rated in the top-10 nationally at the moment, per , I still saw one of my fellow ‘Cuse fans chime in the other day on social media that Syracuse basketball coaches stink at recruiting, because they missed out on so many 2022 recruiting targets and saw two guys in this class de-commit from the Orange.

Okay, so I acknowledge that the Orange saw some of its so-called high-priority targets in 2022 head elsewhere, which is what often happens to the ‘Cuse and virtually every other program out there not named Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Gonzaga, etc.

But to continue to complain about the Orange’s 2022 class, even after the top-35 Mintz came aboard at the end of March? I guess some people are never fully satisfied.

Consider this, though, about a new national ranking for Syracuse basketball signee Judah Mintz.

ESPN recently published its final 2022 player ratings of the top-100 prospects in this cycle, and at least according to this recruiting service, Mintz is ranked higher than two former Orange commits who ultimately de-committed and chose other college squads.

Naturally, those two high-school players whom I’m referring to are point guard Dior Johnson, who is committed to Oregon, and wing Kamari Lands, who is committed to Louisville.

Per ESPN’s new rankings, Mintz checks in at No. 33, Johnson is No. 35 and Lands is No. 39.

Now, I fully acknowledge that Mintz is a combo guard, Johnson is a point guard and Lands is generally regarded by recruiting Web sites as a small forward. So their positions aren’t an apples-to-apples comparison.

What’s more, Judah Mintz isn’t ranked higher than both Johnson and Lands via all of the main recruiting services.

I get all that. My point here, however, is that after Johnson and Lands de-committed, some of my fellow ‘Cuse fans bemoaned losing these guys, because they were flagship prospects who could anchor the Syracuse basketball 2022 class.
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Top Carrier Dome moments: Syracuse men’s basketball (TNIAAM; Ostrowski)

It’s the final week of the Syracuse Orange hosting events in the building currently known as the Carrier Dome. All this week, we’re looking back at some of the top moments in the Dome’s history. We started with football yesterday. Today’s sport is the one most commonly associated with the Syracuse landmark - men’s basketball.

Pearl’s Half-Court Winner​

The 1983-84 Orange were on a roll heading into this matchup with #16 Boston College. They were undefeated (5-0) in Big East play and had won six of their last seven. This one came down to the wire, and after a missed BC free throw that would’ve given the Eagles the lead, Pearl Washington drilled this shot to win it and took off straight down the tunnel.

Dome Defended from Defending Champs

In one of many classics between Syracuse and Georgetown, the #2 Hoyas came into the Dome after besting Houston the previous March to win a title. That didn’t intimidate #9 SU at all, as a crowd of over 32,000 strong rushed the court after Michael Jackson couldn’t tie things up on the final shot. That crowd I mentioned? It was huge for the time but doesn’t even crack the Top 20 in attendance now. Crazy to think about.
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Syracuse basketball still recruiting 5-star point guard, No. 1 junior, he says (itlh; Adler)

Some national analysts are opining that the recruitment of 2023 five-star point guard D.J. Wagner is likely to come down to Kentucky versus in-state rival Louisville, but the 6-foot-3 Wagner continues to maintain that other schools are still recruiting him, including Syracuse basketball.

In all likelihood, the Orange probably doesn’t have all that much of a realistic shot to land Wagner, who is rated the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 cycle according to numerous recruiting services.

That being said, Wagner has said in several interviews that I’ve seen of late where he notes that his recruitment is not just the Wildcats against the Cardinals, even if those two programs currently have the most “buzz” for him, per multiple national analysts and recruiting insiders.

For me personally, even if the ‘Cuse doesn’t win out for Wagner, if it’s indeed the case that Syracuse basketball continues to pursue him, then I give a ton of credit to the Orange coaching staff for making a run at Wagner, no matter how big of an uphill climb the team faces to prevail in his recruitment.

Syracuse basketball offered five-star D.J. Wagner last August at the Orange’s annual Elite Camp.

As we wrote in a column late last week, for quite some time, Kentucky has proven the rumored “favorite” to pick up Wagner, who was an All-American as a junior during the 2021-22 season for Camden High School in Camden, N.J.

However, with ace recruiter and former Kentucky assistant coach Kenny Payne now the new head coach at Louisville, the Cardinals have received some predictions from analysts for Wagner of late.
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Syracuse Basketball's 2022 Recruiting Class Ranked 14th in Final SI All-American Team Rankings (SI; McAllister)

SI All-American has released its final basketball class rankings for the 2022 recruiting cycle. Syracuse finished with the 14th best class and third best in the ACC behind Duke and North Carolina. The Orange's class is six deep and features three players in the SI-99.

You can learn more about the six players in the class below.

Player: Judah Mintz
Position: Combo Guard
Height/Weight: 6-3, 170 lbs
SI-99 Rank: 33
Commitment Quote: "It was just a great opportunity for me to come and be able to play to make an impact as a freshman," Mintz said. "I had a really good connection with coach Red Autry and with coach Boeheim too. Everything just came into play and that was the best fit for me."
Evaluation: "He's got a lot of strengths. He's really good off the dribble. He's a really good shooter even though he doesn't shoot a lot of three pointers, but his percentages are really high. I joked with him one time at practice, 'what's it like to be such a great three point shooter for no reason?' He's a really good three point shooter and you'll see it. He's a good, instinctive defender. He's good at getting easy buckets, knowing when to leak out to get easy buckets. His weakness is sometimes he can overcomplicate the game. He can dribble too much or make things more difficult than they need to be. But when he plays a simple game, he's really, really good. Like tonight, we lost but he had like 21 (points) and seven (assists). He played really well. It was so simple. When he keeps it simple he's a five star, no question." -- Oak Hill Player Development Coach Mike Lee

Player: Quadir Copeland
Position: Point Guard
Height/Weight: 6-6, 175 lbs
SI-99 Rank: None
Commitment Quote: "Just the best fit in my eyes. To take my game and just really be myself. Coach Boeheim, Hall of Fame coach. Coach G-Mac, that's my guy. He's really going to be able to help me with my weaknesses. To play with a shooting guard like Justin Taylor and a guy like Kamari (Lands), that's a really nice team coming in, in 22."
Evaluation: "Quadir is a physically imposing guard who uses elite shiftiness and quickness to get into the lane at will,. He can play both guard positions because of his scoring ability, but he’s got great vision in the drive. He’s adept at taking the bump and finishing through contact, but doubles as a hound on defense, pestering opposing guards for 94 feet." -- SI All American's Jason Jordan
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https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/article260756742.html (newsobserver.com; Wiseman)

College basketball’s free agency period is in full swing, and Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State are all impacted. The NCAA transfer portal is the place where players seeking a new home get connected with schools seeking their services. With more than 1,400 players having entered their names in the portal, The News and Observer sports team will keep track of the comings and goings from the Triangle’s three ACC schools here. This story will be updated regularly as the Blue Devils, Tar Heels and Wolfpack add players or see their own players put their names in the NCAA transfer portal. TOP ARTICLES

DUKE

The Blue Devils have seen one player enter the transfer portal, they have added one transfer and are currently in contact with another player who could be coming to Duke for next season.

On the way out — Michael Savarino, guard: The 6-foot Savarino, who is Mike Krzyzewski’s grandson, was a walk-on at Duke following his high school career at Durham Academy. Following two years in that role from 2019-21, Savarino was given a scholarship for the 2021-22 season. He played in 11 games last season. He’s on track to complete his Duke degree this summer and is looking to transfer to a smaller program where he can compete for playing time.

On the way in —
Kale Catchings, forward: After four seasons playing for Tommy Amaker at Harvard, Catchings has one season of eligibility remaining due the NCAA’s COVID-19 guidelines. Since the Ivy League doesn’t allow graduates to continue playing, he’s looking to play one more season. The 6-6, 220-pound Catchings, from O’Fallon, Missouri, in suburban St. Louis, started 24 games for Harvard last season, averaging 9.1 points and four rebounds.

Prospect who could be arriving —
Ryan Young, center: The 6-10, 240-pound Young, formerly at Northwestern, is scheduled to visit Duke’s campus this week. He averaged nine points and four rebounds in 30 games last season as a junior with the Wildcats, playing 17 minutes per game as a reserve. He entered the transfer portal on March 24 and has two years of eligibility remaining. Duke is looking for an experienced post player to fill the role Theo John played behind Mark Williams last season. This looks like a good fit.
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Other

Census Tract 43, which includes Syracuse University’s main campus, has a 13.3% canopy cover, according to the report — the third lowest canopy cover in all of the city’s tracts.

Syracuse Common Council adopts The Urban Forest Master Plan (DO; Chouinard)

Syracuse Common Council accepted and adopted The Urban Forest Master Plan during its meeting Monday on behalf of the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Youth Program.

First published in 2019, the plan focuses on preserving the urban forest that provides services to the community. Syracuse’s existing tree canopy covers 27% of the city and provides $9.1 million in services, as outlined in the plan.

The executive summary, created by Davey Resource Group — a natural resource and utility consulting service — details that 65% of the monetary value currently created by the canopy comes from the particulate matter the trees remove from the air.

To advance the city’s urban forest, the plan set out three goals: improving urban forest safety and resiliency, growing the canopy equitably throughout the city and connecting the entire community to the urban forest.

Specifically, the first goal of the plan instructs the city to plant an additional 2,870 trees per year over 20 years. The added 57,400 trees would increase the canopy cover to 34%, one percentage point over the current national average for a city of Syracuse’s size. The calculations from Davey Resource Group did not take into account the number of trees that would need to be planted to offset losses of trees.

Census Tract 43, which includes Syracuse University’s main campus, has a 13.3% canopy cover, according to the report — the third lowest canopy cover in all of the city’s tracts.

The second goal, which focuses on improving urban forest safety and resiliency, can be achieved through regular pruning and inventory checks as well as removing unhealthy and compromised trees, according to the report.

“Fully funded forest operations, improved design standards and construction practices, increased tree protection and better enforcement of rules on the books will protect what we have,” the report reads.

To connect the entire community to the urban forest, the plan outlines that newly planted trees must be spread out in an equitable manner.

The Davey Resource Group proposed 12 strategies to accomplish the plan’s goals. Some strategies in the 2019 report include obtaining more recently updated information on Syracuse’s tree canopy, which was last updated 10 years before the report.

Another strategy included in the plan is to address conflict between sidewalks and trees. The report states that 11% of trees lost every year come from issues related to sidewalks.

“The policy guiding sidewalk repair and responsibility should be reviewed and revised so that both pavement and trees are accommodated,” the report reads.

The report also discussed the economic benefits of investing in trees in Syracuse. Every dollar of public funds spent on tree care yields $2 of annual benefits, according to Davey Resource Group.

“If the urban forest canopy cover decreases from any or all of these challenges, the city could experience significant losses in the benefits of the canopy,” the report said. “It is important for Syracuse to take steps now to protect the integrity of its urban forest for generations to come.”

 

[Ozone!]