SWC75
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THE SCHEDULE (All times are Eastern Time Zone – Standard time starts 11/3 All quotes are from Lindy’s unless otherwise noted.)
Saturday 10/26/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 1PM Clarion (exhibition)
TV: ACC Network
Clarion is a D2 team that went 8-20 last year. They didn’t play any D1 teams. One good thing: They had five double-figure scorers, three of whom are back, led by 6-6 215 Cam Kearny (16.6p/5.7r) and 6-5 230 Jeremy Thomas (10.6p/7.8r). They aren’t the skinny kids at the beach whose faces you can kick sand into.
Wednesday 10/30/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Slippery Rock (exhibition)
TV: ACC Network
Slippery Rock should play Stony Brook. Instead, they are playing us. They are in the same conference as Clarion, the Pennsylvania Conference, but did better, 16-14 and beat Clarion twice, 64-54 and 97-94 in OT. But here’s a clue: they lost to Chaminade 67-75. They didn’t play anyone in D1. They had three double-figure scorers and all are back: 6-5 190 Maceo Austin (16.9p/6.7r), 6-6 195 Ike Heiser (14.3p) and 6-4 170 Jomo Goings (13.1p/5.7r/2.8a).
Monday 11/4/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Le Moyne
TV: ACC Network
Now it counts and we open against a team we used to play in exhibitions, (and the only school to beat us in one), hometown Le Moyne, who recently moved up to D1. The Dolphins play in the Northeast Conference with Wagner, Fairleigh Dickinson, (who became the second 16 seed to defeat a #1 seed vs. Purdue two years ago), Central Connecticut, Long Island, Stonehill, (Maybe they should play Stony Brook and Slippery Rock), St. Francis (Pa). – Where Maurice Stokes came from – look it up!), Mercyhurst and Chicago State. Le Moyne was 15-17 last year. They lost to Georgetown by 37, Villanova by 26 and Penn State by 17. They have one starter back, 6-5 200 Darrick Jones (8.5p/2.8r). 6-8 215 Ocypher Owens averaged 8.1p/4.2r.
Tuesday 11/12/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Colgate
TV: ACC Network
For three years in a Colgate, a former doormat, has punched us in the gut, showing us that we weren’t nearly as good as we thought. In 2021, we jumped out to a 17-2 lead and expected the usual easy time of it. Shockingly, the rest of the game was Syracuse 68 Colgate 98, if you can believe that. You could certainly believe it the next year, when the Raiders handled us again, 68-80. Last, Red Autry’s first try against the ‘Gate started out 30-54 before a miracle rally got us a 79-75 win, (that’s a 49-21 run). We will be taking this game very, very seriously. The Raiders have been a dynasty in the Patriot League, having won or shared 6 titles in a row and won the conference tournament 5 out of 6 times. They are 137-53 (.721) during that time.
Coach Matt Langel, who has been there 13 years, should be a hot property but he’s still in Hamilton, figuring out ways to embarrass Syracuse. He’s got two returning starters but neither were double-figure scorers; Brady Cummins 6-6 190, (7.3p/2.6r) and Nicolas Louis-Jacques 6-4 175 (6.6p/1.6r). He’s got a big center in Jeff Woodward, 6-11 270, (7.2p/4.2r) and brought in a couple more big guys in 6-10 215 Ethan Brown and 7-0 230 Cameron Brennan.
Saturday 11/16/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 2PM Youngstown State
TV: ACC Network
The Penguins, (why is a team from Ohio called the Penguins?), had a strong season last year: 22-10 and 14-6 in the Horizon league, which consists of them, Milwaukee, Purdue-Fort Wayne, Northern Kentucky, Wright State, Oakland, Cleveland State, Green Bay, Robert Morris, Detroit Mercy and Indiana-Indianapolis. They lost to Michigan 62-92 and Dayton 69-77 and to Cleveland State in the conference tournament. They were not selected for the NCAAs. Their coach left for Utah State.
His assistant, Ethan Faulkner, takes over but all of the team’s starters from last year – all 5th years seniors, are gone. Faulkner brought in 5th year seniors from Sacred Heart (Nico Galente 6-6 210 (13.5p/7.3r) and Canisius (Siem Uijtendaal 6-6185, 13.3p/3.4r). They also brought in Ty Harper from NAIA team Eastern Washington, where he averaged 20.2p and hit 40% from the arc. He spent two seasons there after two season at (SW) Louisiana, so he’s also a 5th year guy. Their program philosophy is “Get old and stay old”.
Thursday 11/21/24 at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY 7PM Texas
TV: ESPN2
Now we enter the deep end of the pool. Two years ago the Longhorns were 29-9 and made it to an NCAA regional final. Last year, they slipped a bit to 21-13 and lost in the second round. Lindy’s: “A year ago, while members of the Big 12, Texas played 8 games against KenPom top 30 opponents. They lost all 8. The Longhorns should have a dozen such contests on this year’s schedule in a loaded SEC.” We won’t be one of them, at least not this early.
Coach Rodney Terry lost 6 of his top 7 scorers from last year. He brought in 6-2 165 Jordan Pope (17.6p/3.4a) from Oregon State and 6-5 180 Tramon Mark (16.2p/4.3r) from Arkansas. Arthur Kaluma (6-7 220, 14.4p/5.6r) came in from Kansas State. 6-6 190 Tre Johnson is a top 10 recruit and ‘three level’ scorer. 6-10 216 Kadin Shedrick averaged 7.7p/3.0r playing 17 minutes a game.
This and the next game are part of the “Legend’s Classic”
Friday 11/22/24 at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY 7 or 9PM St. Joseph’s or Texas Tech
TV: ESPN
We’ll be playing the winner of the first-round game between these two teams.
The Hawks, who have quite a basketball history, are recovering from a dry period, when they went 11-41 from 2019-21. They went 11-19 on 2021-22, then 16-17 and 21-13 and the NIT last year under Coach Billy Lange. 6-2 190 Erik Reynolds (17.3p) will be one of the best players in the Atlantic 10. His backcourt mate, Xzayvier Brown (12.7p/2.7a) was the league’s rookie of the year last season. They will be joined by Rutgers transfer Derek Simpson (6-3 165, 8.3p/3.2r). Harvard transfer Justice Ajogbor (6-11 270) is “an elite rim-protector”.
Texas Tech has had a lot of good teams in recent years. Last year, they were 23-11 and lost in the first round of the NCAAs to NC State. Lindys: “Four key contributors return – including three of the better 3 point shooters in the league – and the Red Raiders, (why are they still the Red Raiders and Colgate is just the Raiders?) hit a home run in the transfer portal with a number of big-time additions.” The three returning shooters are 6-5 210 Kerwin Walton (8.5p, 47.8% from three), 6-6 225 Darrion Williams (11.4/5.6r 45.8%) and Chane McMillian (10.8p/4.0r 38.7%). Minnesota Transfer Elijah Hawkins (5-11 160, 9.5p/7.5a) and Drake transfer Kevin Overton (6-5 200, 11.3p/3.3r), giving Tech a strong backcourt. Mountain West freshman of the year JT Toppin, (6-9 225, transferred from New Mexico. 6-6 Devin Cambridge was averaging (10.5p/4.5r) in the first eight games when his season ended due to a knee injury. This sounds like it could be a heck of a team.
Wednesday 11/27/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Cornell
TV: ACC Network
Cornell is trying to do what Colgate did: turn around a series that had been totally one-sided since the 1960’s. But Coach Brian Earl, (54-30 in the last three years and 22-8 last season), did what Colgate’s Matt Langel did not do: He left for another school, although why he left for Willaim and Mary, I don’t know. Jon Jacques, who played on the Big Red’s 2010 Sweet 16 team, takes over.
He also has a trio of good shooters: Nazir Williams, (6-3 180, 11.4p/3.2a), Copper Noard 6-2 190 8.8p/3.1r 38.7%) and Guy Ragland Jr. (6-8 246 9.1p/5.1r 40.4%). AK Okreke (6-7 235 7.1p/r in 18m). They don’t have a lot of vertical size but plenty of bulk.
Saturday 10/26/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 1PM Clarion (exhibition)
TV: ACC Network
Clarion is a D2 team that went 8-20 last year. They didn’t play any D1 teams. One good thing: They had five double-figure scorers, three of whom are back, led by 6-6 215 Cam Kearny (16.6p/5.7r) and 6-5 230 Jeremy Thomas (10.6p/7.8r). They aren’t the skinny kids at the beach whose faces you can kick sand into.
Wednesday 10/30/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Slippery Rock (exhibition)
TV: ACC Network
Slippery Rock should play Stony Brook. Instead, they are playing us. They are in the same conference as Clarion, the Pennsylvania Conference, but did better, 16-14 and beat Clarion twice, 64-54 and 97-94 in OT. But here’s a clue: they lost to Chaminade 67-75. They didn’t play anyone in D1. They had three double-figure scorers and all are back: 6-5 190 Maceo Austin (16.9p/6.7r), 6-6 195 Ike Heiser (14.3p) and 6-4 170 Jomo Goings (13.1p/5.7r/2.8a).
Monday 11/4/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Le Moyne
TV: ACC Network
Now it counts and we open against a team we used to play in exhibitions, (and the only school to beat us in one), hometown Le Moyne, who recently moved up to D1. The Dolphins play in the Northeast Conference with Wagner, Fairleigh Dickinson, (who became the second 16 seed to defeat a #1 seed vs. Purdue two years ago), Central Connecticut, Long Island, Stonehill, (Maybe they should play Stony Brook and Slippery Rock), St. Francis (Pa). – Where Maurice Stokes came from – look it up!), Mercyhurst and Chicago State. Le Moyne was 15-17 last year. They lost to Georgetown by 37, Villanova by 26 and Penn State by 17. They have one starter back, 6-5 200 Darrick Jones (8.5p/2.8r). 6-8 215 Ocypher Owens averaged 8.1p/4.2r.
Tuesday 11/12/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Colgate
TV: ACC Network
For three years in a Colgate, a former doormat, has punched us in the gut, showing us that we weren’t nearly as good as we thought. In 2021, we jumped out to a 17-2 lead and expected the usual easy time of it. Shockingly, the rest of the game was Syracuse 68 Colgate 98, if you can believe that. You could certainly believe it the next year, when the Raiders handled us again, 68-80. Last, Red Autry’s first try against the ‘Gate started out 30-54 before a miracle rally got us a 79-75 win, (that’s a 49-21 run). We will be taking this game very, very seriously. The Raiders have been a dynasty in the Patriot League, having won or shared 6 titles in a row and won the conference tournament 5 out of 6 times. They are 137-53 (.721) during that time.
Coach Matt Langel, who has been there 13 years, should be a hot property but he’s still in Hamilton, figuring out ways to embarrass Syracuse. He’s got two returning starters but neither were double-figure scorers; Brady Cummins 6-6 190, (7.3p/2.6r) and Nicolas Louis-Jacques 6-4 175 (6.6p/1.6r). He’s got a big center in Jeff Woodward, 6-11 270, (7.2p/4.2r) and brought in a couple more big guys in 6-10 215 Ethan Brown and 7-0 230 Cameron Brennan.
Saturday 11/16/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 2PM Youngstown State
TV: ACC Network
The Penguins, (why is a team from Ohio called the Penguins?), had a strong season last year: 22-10 and 14-6 in the Horizon league, which consists of them, Milwaukee, Purdue-Fort Wayne, Northern Kentucky, Wright State, Oakland, Cleveland State, Green Bay, Robert Morris, Detroit Mercy and Indiana-Indianapolis. They lost to Michigan 62-92 and Dayton 69-77 and to Cleveland State in the conference tournament. They were not selected for the NCAAs. Their coach left for Utah State.
His assistant, Ethan Faulkner, takes over but all of the team’s starters from last year – all 5th years seniors, are gone. Faulkner brought in 5th year seniors from Sacred Heart (Nico Galente 6-6 210 (13.5p/7.3r) and Canisius (Siem Uijtendaal 6-6185, 13.3p/3.4r). They also brought in Ty Harper from NAIA team Eastern Washington, where he averaged 20.2p and hit 40% from the arc. He spent two seasons there after two season at (SW) Louisiana, so he’s also a 5th year guy. Their program philosophy is “Get old and stay old”.
Thursday 11/21/24 at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY 7PM Texas
TV: ESPN2
Now we enter the deep end of the pool. Two years ago the Longhorns were 29-9 and made it to an NCAA regional final. Last year, they slipped a bit to 21-13 and lost in the second round. Lindy’s: “A year ago, while members of the Big 12, Texas played 8 games against KenPom top 30 opponents. They lost all 8. The Longhorns should have a dozen such contests on this year’s schedule in a loaded SEC.” We won’t be one of them, at least not this early.
Coach Rodney Terry lost 6 of his top 7 scorers from last year. He brought in 6-2 165 Jordan Pope (17.6p/3.4a) from Oregon State and 6-5 180 Tramon Mark (16.2p/4.3r) from Arkansas. Arthur Kaluma (6-7 220, 14.4p/5.6r) came in from Kansas State. 6-6 190 Tre Johnson is a top 10 recruit and ‘three level’ scorer. 6-10 216 Kadin Shedrick averaged 7.7p/3.0r playing 17 minutes a game.
This and the next game are part of the “Legend’s Classic”
Friday 11/22/24 at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY 7 or 9PM St. Joseph’s or Texas Tech
TV: ESPN
We’ll be playing the winner of the first-round game between these two teams.
The Hawks, who have quite a basketball history, are recovering from a dry period, when they went 11-41 from 2019-21. They went 11-19 on 2021-22, then 16-17 and 21-13 and the NIT last year under Coach Billy Lange. 6-2 190 Erik Reynolds (17.3p) will be one of the best players in the Atlantic 10. His backcourt mate, Xzayvier Brown (12.7p/2.7a) was the league’s rookie of the year last season. They will be joined by Rutgers transfer Derek Simpson (6-3 165, 8.3p/3.2r). Harvard transfer Justice Ajogbor (6-11 270) is “an elite rim-protector”.
Texas Tech has had a lot of good teams in recent years. Last year, they were 23-11 and lost in the first round of the NCAAs to NC State. Lindys: “Four key contributors return – including three of the better 3 point shooters in the league – and the Red Raiders, (why are they still the Red Raiders and Colgate is just the Raiders?) hit a home run in the transfer portal with a number of big-time additions.” The three returning shooters are 6-5 210 Kerwin Walton (8.5p, 47.8% from three), 6-6 225 Darrion Williams (11.4/5.6r 45.8%) and Chane McMillian (10.8p/4.0r 38.7%). Minnesota Transfer Elijah Hawkins (5-11 160, 9.5p/7.5a) and Drake transfer Kevin Overton (6-5 200, 11.3p/3.3r), giving Tech a strong backcourt. Mountain West freshman of the year JT Toppin, (6-9 225, transferred from New Mexico. 6-6 Devin Cambridge was averaging (10.5p/4.5r) in the first eight games when his season ended due to a knee injury. This sounds like it could be a heck of a team.
Wednesday 11/27/24 at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY 7PM Cornell
TV: ACC Network
Cornell is trying to do what Colgate did: turn around a series that had been totally one-sided since the 1960’s. But Coach Brian Earl, (54-30 in the last three years and 22-8 last season), did what Colgate’s Matt Langel did not do: He left for another school, although why he left for Willaim and Mary, I don’t know. Jon Jacques, who played on the Big Red’s 2010 Sweet 16 team, takes over.
He also has a trio of good shooters: Nazir Williams, (6-3 180, 11.4p/3.2a), Copper Noard 6-2 190 8.8p/3.1r 38.7%) and Guy Ragland Jr. (6-8 246 9.1p/5.1r 40.4%). AK Okreke (6-7 235 7.1p/r in 18m). They don’t have a lot of vertical size but plenty of bulk.
