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In years gone by I've seen recruiting trend up and down, but no matter the year or the trend Syracuse has always been clinical in its recruiting. They have always recruited to a need, always recruited a particular type of player, and always left an open scholarship or two just in case.
This year marks a dramatic philosophical change. Instead of clinically recruiting to a particular need Syracuse seems to be trying to get . . . well . . . everybody. If this continues the NCAA may have to cancel next season and replace it with a series of Midnight Madness style inter-squad scrimmages because nobody but Syracuse is going to have enough players to field a team.
I have to wonder, why the philosophical change and how are all these new players are going to fit together?
As far as the philosophical change goes, the easy explanation is, we are short of bodies this year with only nine scholarship players on a team that can be elite (which usually means losing guys to the NBA) so its the right time to stock up. If you look at the guys SU has coming in. All five of them (six if you count Gbinije) seem like four, or at the very least, three year guys. Meaning we are going to be set/looking for elite one and done types in the next two years - the first of which we already have in McCullough.
Yet I cant help but wonder if there is more to this story.
Boeheim has always left at least one open scholarship. Some of the guys we are bringing in seem surplus to requirements. Does this change in recruiting style portend other changes? Is Boeheim leaving the cupboard full for Hopkins? I dont know if or when Boeheim is planning on retiring but we have surely entered the age where every year might plausibly be his last.
Onto where everybody fits. A point guard and a four year/rotation center are our two true needs in this class. We filled both of those needs with Ennis and Obokoh, who seem to check all the boxes for what we are looking for (even if I'm not as thrilled with Ennis as most are).
I understand the BJ Johnson signing because he is a guy who wont play for a year or two, but when he does play will be a tall forward who can shoot threes, and that type of player is rare and valuable.
After those three, things get confusing. When Patterson signed with SU I assumed it meant that Boeheim saw Gbinije as a small forward instead of a shooting guard. Signing Roberson seems to indicate otherwise. With Gbinije and Cooney at shooting guard, is SU looking to convert Patterson into a point guard? A six foot three, built like Paul Harris, seven foot wingspan, point guard. Are you kidding me? Its hard not to get excited about that.
The word is Patterson needs help with his handle but he's going to gain an extra year of maturity at Brewster which is a basketball factory that produces players who are ready to contribute in college from day one (see CJ Fair). A lot can change with an extra year training in an environment like that. Especially if the word from SU is he has to work on his handle.
Finally we have Roberson. A guy who is a borderline McDonald's All American. Is he going to be better as a freshman than Grant is as a sophomore? I think that's a little unlikely. Is he going to be better as a sophomore than McCullough will be as a freshman? Also unlikely. The odds are this potential McDonald's All American is looking at having to wait until he's a junior just to get in the rotation, much less get a chance to start. It almost unfathomable to me that we got him.
After all this rambling, I have four questions I'd like everybody's opinion on.
Does all this recruiting (bordering on over-recruiting) signal a change from Boeheim to Hopkins is upcoming?
Did SU bring Patterson in to play point guard?
What will Roberson's role be in his first two years considering he is going to have to battle with the likes of Christmas, Fair, Grant, and McCullough for playing time?
How many red shirts is a team allowed in one season? Is it possible that as many as three guys in this class receive a shirt?
This year marks a dramatic philosophical change. Instead of clinically recruiting to a particular need Syracuse seems to be trying to get . . . well . . . everybody. If this continues the NCAA may have to cancel next season and replace it with a series of Midnight Madness style inter-squad scrimmages because nobody but Syracuse is going to have enough players to field a team.
I have to wonder, why the philosophical change and how are all these new players are going to fit together?
As far as the philosophical change goes, the easy explanation is, we are short of bodies this year with only nine scholarship players on a team that can be elite (which usually means losing guys to the NBA) so its the right time to stock up. If you look at the guys SU has coming in. All five of them (six if you count Gbinije) seem like four, or at the very least, three year guys. Meaning we are going to be set/looking for elite one and done types in the next two years - the first of which we already have in McCullough.
Yet I cant help but wonder if there is more to this story.
Boeheim has always left at least one open scholarship. Some of the guys we are bringing in seem surplus to requirements. Does this change in recruiting style portend other changes? Is Boeheim leaving the cupboard full for Hopkins? I dont know if or when Boeheim is planning on retiring but we have surely entered the age where every year might plausibly be his last.
Onto where everybody fits. A point guard and a four year/rotation center are our two true needs in this class. We filled both of those needs with Ennis and Obokoh, who seem to check all the boxes for what we are looking for (even if I'm not as thrilled with Ennis as most are).
I understand the BJ Johnson signing because he is a guy who wont play for a year or two, but when he does play will be a tall forward who can shoot threes, and that type of player is rare and valuable.
After those three, things get confusing. When Patterson signed with SU I assumed it meant that Boeheim saw Gbinije as a small forward instead of a shooting guard. Signing Roberson seems to indicate otherwise. With Gbinije and Cooney at shooting guard, is SU looking to convert Patterson into a point guard? A six foot three, built like Paul Harris, seven foot wingspan, point guard. Are you kidding me? Its hard not to get excited about that.
The word is Patterson needs help with his handle but he's going to gain an extra year of maturity at Brewster which is a basketball factory that produces players who are ready to contribute in college from day one (see CJ Fair). A lot can change with an extra year training in an environment like that. Especially if the word from SU is he has to work on his handle.
Finally we have Roberson. A guy who is a borderline McDonald's All American. Is he going to be better as a freshman than Grant is as a sophomore? I think that's a little unlikely. Is he going to be better as a sophomore than McCullough will be as a freshman? Also unlikely. The odds are this potential McDonald's All American is looking at having to wait until he's a junior just to get in the rotation, much less get a chance to start. It almost unfathomable to me that we got him.
After all this rambling, I have four questions I'd like everybody's opinion on.
Does all this recruiting (bordering on over-recruiting) signal a change from Boeheim to Hopkins is upcoming?
Did SU bring Patterson in to play point guard?
What will Roberson's role be in his first two years considering he is going to have to battle with the likes of Christmas, Fair, Grant, and McCullough for playing time?
How many red shirts is a team allowed in one season? Is it possible that as many as three guys in this class receive a shirt?