Inside Syracuse’s rough off-season: How portal misses and a lack of NIL money led to a lost year

[JustPherU]

I think St Johns was a done deal but they were telling Kooks to talk to other schools (us, Oklahoma, Illinois) so it didn’t look like blatant tampering on their side.

There is no tampering if they are in the portal

 

[hoopsupstate]

I really want JJ back. He is an excellent player and by all accounts a good teammate. I think that he can be our leader next year. If we can add a true scoring 3 an athletic 5 and of course a 1. We can be good. Other than Donnie and JJ keep Petar and let everyone else decide if they want to stay or transfer but don't pay up for them.
3 solid older portal players.
PG SF C
JJ, DONNIE, PETAR
FROSH and any other player that wants to stay but only under our terms. That's the roster

You’re spot on. I might add Choppa, but guards who can’t defend are a dime a dozen.

 

[hoopsupstate]

There is no tampering if they are in the portal

That’s why he went into the portal. He was told before entering a bag was waiting.

 

[orange79]

I really want JJ back. He is an excellent player and by all accounts a good teammate. I think that he can be our leader next year. If we can add a true scoring 3 an athletic 5 and of course a 1. We can be good. Other than Donnie and JJ keep Petar and let everyone else decide if they want to stay or transfer but don't pay up for them.
3 solid older portal players.
PG SF C
JJ, DONNIE, PETAR
FROSH and any other player that wants to stay but only under our terms. That's the roster

I think JJ will be fine if he doesn't have to be "The Guy". He's just not that kind of player, in my eyes. But he could be a key part to a winning team - he just can't do it all (as he's been asked to do this season).

 

[JustPherU]

That’s why he went into the portal. He was told before entering a bag was waiting.

Where are you getting this info from?

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

From what we've seen this year, the staff needs truly elite talent to overcome their enormous deficiencies in coaching and player development. I just don't see the team next year being anything more than bubblicious, and even then, only if they absolutely crush it in the portal.

 

[5OutFred]

I think it's important to also note that what highlighting NIL as "the reason" does is create an unfair expectation that Alex Kline is either going to or has to be the reason why SU is good next year.

The media narrative solely focuses on this instead of on-court preparedness, etc, and thus if the portal doesn't come together this year, Alex is to blame, not the entirety of the staff.

 

[Blanko97]

This is SU laying the narrative for Red being retained

They did a pretty awful job. Basically said Red neglected to fund raise for NIL, couldnt foresee that he needed to replace the players he pushed out of the program, failed to do any portal research before the end of the season and then went on to get out bid on every top players and fill the roster with pieces that don't fit together.

 

[Lukeyloo]

So our ship is sinking only because we weren't able to buy success? What about the programs that had the same (or lower) budget than us that were able to succeed? The article claims we were middle of the pack in the ACC with our NIL budget, but we're not seeing middle of the pack results.

 

[OHIORANGES]

I really want JJ back. He is an excellent player and by all accounts a good teammate. I think that he can be our leader next year. If we can add a true scoring 3 an athletic 5 and of course a 1. We can be good. Other than Donnie and JJ keep Petar and let everyone else decide if they want to stay or transfer but don't pay up for them.
3 solid older portal players.
PG SF C
JJ, DONNIE, PETAR
FROSH and any other player that wants to stay but only under our terms. That's the roster

You really think “an excellent player” has his shooting percentages?

 

[pwong]

Look at another team that lost everyone and doesn’t have a lot of NIL. But it’s never the coach’s fault at SU…

 

[Corpi33]

From what I have read and heard, Syracuse was no where ready for the portal last year, obviously whiffed on some kids who they thought they were going to get, including Richmond. They are using not being ready for the portal as this years excuse as well as not having the $$ needed to get players. They settled on the players who are here now. Going forward I believe, with no proof, that they will have the needed cash this year and they have a full time GM who's main mission is to be ready for the portal this year. Mr Autry, you are on the clock!!

 

[Fly Rodder]

They are competitive with NIL

This is long winded, but TLR, NIL doesn't trump a committed coaching staff.

Competitive is one thing but it is not synonymous with every player being a bidding war. Not every player is entering the transfer portal. If you look at the top transfers from last season, they are almost entirely from lower P5 and mid majors and teams with coaching changes. The best players from top-30 schools likely left due to playing time or losing a starting job to a better player. A starting guard from Alabama left for Kansas and rumor was this was known in January because he didn't play defense among other things things and Bama had a top frosh coming in at his position. Roach from Duke went to Baylor because Duke had Knueppel coming in and Roach was losing his starting job. Same with Mitchell and Flagg/Malauch/Brown. Top programs lose guys because they already have a better replacement coming in.

At Syracuse they lost Edwards and Maliq because they were underestimating their contributions, weren't prepared, or working hard enough to keep their most valuable players. Think about this from Maliq's perspective. His friend Justin Taylor (who is getting 8-10 mpg and NOT shooting threes at JMU) started over him at PF(!). Then when he absolutely had to play Maliq, Red started him at C and Maliq was one of the very best defenders in the ACC. His reward? Congrats Maliq, we know you've been here two seasons and worked your ass off, but as a junior you're going to back-up a freshman and a grad transfer C. You might start as a senior (ETA: but we likely have another top PF HS recruit)... Cool? By the way, your buddy the guard who started over you? He's not good enough so he's transferring. Would you have bounced too? Especially when a program like Duke comes calling? That's not an NIL issue, that's a not understanding which players are your most valuable (not necessarily the best, but the most effective/valuable).

Money talks, but commitment from a well-run program is going to keep the key players from sniffing around other coaches. Identify core talent and lock it up, develop a couple of frosh and bring in sophs from lower programs who've shown they can play D1 ball, and stay away from replacing the entire roster every off-season.

 

[Newhouser]

Anyone reading that article who still thinks Red should be retained...just wow

 

[Fly Rodder]

I really want JJ back. He is an excellent player and by all accounts a good teammate. I think that he can be our leader next year. If we can add a true scoring 3 an athletic 5 and of course a 1. We can be good. Other than Donnie and JJ keep Petar and let everyone else decide if they want to stay or transfer but don't pay up for them.
3 solid older portal players.
PG SF C
JJ, DONNIE, PETAR
FROSH and any other player that wants to stay but only under our terms. That's the roster

That team is going be to awful defensively ... again. And where are you starting Sadiq?

nothing like committing to a shooting guard who can't shoot and doesn't play defense and expecting a different outcome.

 

[kcsu]

You’re spot on. I might add Choppa, but guards who can’t defend are a dime a dozen.

I like Choppa. He plays with energy. I'd only keep him under our terms. I wouldn't pay up to keep him. Same with everyone else I didn't list. They can stay but only under SU terms.

 

[kcsu]

That team is going be to awful defensively ... again. And where are you starting Sadiq?

nothing like committing to a shooting guard who can't shoot and doesn't play defense and expecting a different outcome.

I don't agree.
Sadiq plays the 4
Donnie plays three positions in order. 3 4 5
Petar plays primarily the 4 some 5
Starting five:
1; portal
2: JJ
3: Portal
4: Donnie
5; Portal.

 

[Fly Rodder]

I don't agree.
Sadiq plays the 4
Donnie plays three positions in order. 3 4 5
Petar plays primarily the 4 some 5
Starting five:
1; portal
2: JJ
3: Portal
4: Donnie
5; Portal.

You have Sadiq going to the bench and Freeman starting at the 4 but playing the 3 and you're going to get a starting caliber SF from the portal? Good luck.

 

[Red2003]

The TL: DR summary...

A day late and a dollar short.

Love this ha. There's alot of people in the media that I don't know what they're doing. Just drinking the koolaid I guess. Where was the media to report that we are being outspent 3-1 or 5-1 or 10-1 for guys?

By all accounts this wasn't just dig up a few hundred here or there. We're off by 500K to a mil for the players needed. No one thought to pull a fire alarm and even write a single article on this last year?

 

[Consigliere]

I think Mike Waters is trying to inform people what SU is dealing with and the constraints Red had last spring. He also writes how unprepared the coaching staff was in preparing for the portal. If he was just spinning for the university he didn’t need to show how unprepared everyone was. The article is damning in many ways. I don’t think it’s complimentary towards anyone.

The aspect of this that Mike didn't expound on is the support staff that was in place last spring. It was essentially Red, Griff and Engelstad with Pete Corasaniti before Straughan was hired. Staff was understandably 100% focused on the current season's games and unable to focus on roster construction for this year until we were knocked out of the ACC Tournament in mid March. Then, and only then did they realize that the budget they had set and communicated to the collectives for this year's roster would be woefully inadequate.
We have now added a GM and a data analysis guru so we have 1 head coach, 3 assistants and 3 support staff members,
Compare that to Duke's 1 HC, FIVE assistants, and at least EIGHT support staff members dedicated to the product on the court PLUS a fundraising arm dedicated solely to men's hoops and a staff that is tasked with player branding and developemt. I'm not even inclusing the others whose titles I couldn't decipher.
It's not solely NIL and quality of coaching. The larger issue is the level of support that the program is receiving from the department. Let's see how that changes beginning in a couple weeks.

Staff Directory - Duke University

The official staff directory for the Duke University

goduke.com

 

[Red2003]

Fran had a plan, hoops clearly didnt have anything close to it

This is where it's important to keep in mind that Fran was part of a Natty regime at Georgia when they were at the top of the recruiting, NIL game, portal game and then everything else on the field.

No one on the hoops side of the house has anything going for them except High School recruiting.

 

[PauliePeppas]

Blah blah blah…..he cant COACH

 

[DilemaCuse]

Just reading the comments here.

Red was unprepared, didnt have a GM in place. Did any of the assistants including GMAC do any player scouting, developing a database for potential transfers during last season?

I don't know why they and Corisanti couldn't have shared the responsibility to do what Kline is doing now to at least have some infrastructure in place and be prepared? I feel like this should have been going on going back to 2020!!! I realize the money part is beyond the assistants scope but c'mon.

 

[Sbucketball]

The aspect of this that Mike didn't expound on is the support staff that was in place last spring. It was essentially Red, Griff and Engelstad with Pete Corasaniti before Straughan was hired. Staff was understandably 100% focused on the current season's games and unable to focus on roster construction for this year until we were knocked out of the ACC Tournament in mid March. Then, and only then did they realize that the budget they had set and communicated to the collectives for this year's roster would be woefully inadequate.
We have now added a GM and a data analysis guru so we have 1 head coach, 3 assistants and 3 support staff members,
Compare that to Duke's 1 HC, FIVE assistants, and at least EIGHT support staff members dedicated to the product on the court PLUS a fundraising arm dedicated solely to men's hoops and a staff that is tasked with player branding and developemt. I'm not even inclusing the others whose titles I couldn't decipher.
It's not solely NIL and quality of coaching. The larger issue is the level of support that the program is receiving from the department. Let's see how that changes beginning in a couple weeks.

Staff Directory - Duke University

The official staff directory for the Duke University

goduke.com

Question for you or anyone who knows. It's been said our NIL budget is better next year. Last year it was 2 - 2.5. What is our approximate NIL budget for next year?

 

[DilemaCuse]

This is where it's important to keep in mind that Fran was part of a Natty regime at Georgia when they were at the top of the recruiting, NIL game, portal game and then everything else on the field.

No one on the hoops side of the house has anything going for them except High School recruiting.

Good point, its exactly why they need to go outside of the Syracuse staff to bring in a different perspective and set of eyes that know what is needed. Fran at UGA knows the blueprint. He can try to apply it on a smaller scale. Staying isolated for BBall has not helped matters and continues set the program back, combined with a first time head coach learning on the job. Year 3 will likely be a rebuild and tenure all but doomed. Trying to continue 40 years of success doesn't work when the game is rapidly changing.