Class of 2019 PF Isaiah Stewart (NY/LaLumiereIN) to Washington

[OrangeDW]

This is a little misleading. Both Quincy G and Oshae are/were considered top 100 players. But because they played in Canada, a number of recruiting services, including ESPN, don’t consider them for their top 100 lists. But the
2 4 7 internal rankings, from their own scouts, included both Oshae and Quincy G in their 100 (I believe top 50 actually). Marek had the same issue coming from Slovakia. I belive Marek and maybe Sid also made 2 4 7 ‘s top 100 list. So that would make at least 4, if not 5-6, top 100 players over the past two seasons.

I think guys like Brissett, Marek, Sidibe, etc. are on par with 90% (maybe more like 97%?)of the recruits SU has always gotten. We haven’t had the scholarships to build depth, and we haven’t gotten that one flat out stud from day 1 of their freshman season, of which we only get so many of...Wallace, Owens, Pearl, Carmelo, Flynn. Battle was close, but maybe a notch below.

 

[Jake]

IMHO...recruiting is adequate. Not great, but not as horrific as some of you suggest.

Player development however is another story ...

We have talent on our roster.

 

[JeremyCuse]

IMHO...recruiting is adequate. Not great, but not as horrific as some of you suggest.

Player development however is another story ...

We have talent on our roster.

Good points as always Jake.

Any feeling on if we will pursue Carrigan or another big man now that its official with Stewart?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Good points as always Jake.

Any feeling on if we will pursue Carrigan or another big man now that its official with Stewart?

We're still in contact with Wahab.

 

[JeremyCuse]

We're still in contact with Wahab.

Right, but I think its clear he's not coming here.

 

[Bayside44]

Yes, but isn't it going to be far easier for Hop to have a better record than Capel? ACC is a tougher road than the PAC12. That doesn't matter as far as which guy got the better job–i'm just sayin'.

Beat Kansas last year and it wasnt enough. The pac 12 isn’t close to the acc

 

[Sherman20]

Wow. Those numbers hurt my eyes just to read them.

He was a 4 star, ranked in the 30s - he was borderline and dropped his senior year, not a burger boy and picked for the consolation regional Jordan game. Facts. Never said he wasn't a great recruit, but he wasn't a recruit the level that Stewart is.

Fair enough. But we haven’t had a recruit the level of Stewart since Melo. (Bazley was close. McCullough and Fab were around the top 10-15 but were much more raw prospects based on height and athleticism.) Yet we’ve made two Final Fours and had two #1 seeds since then and our second golden age (2008-2015). 2010 and 2012 were arguably all time great SU teams. In 2010, we only had 3 top 100 guys on the entire roster (Scoop, KrisJo and Rick Jackson). Let that blow your mind for a second.

 

[pfister1]

IMHO...recruiting is adequate. Not great, but not as horrific as some of you suggest.

Player development however is another story ...

We have talent on our roster.

I think everyone acknowledges that recent classes haven't been among our greatest. We are all arguing in terms of degree; things aren't nearly as bad as some want to make it out, but we also aren't getting the players that we need in order to finish top 4 in the ACC, which is where most of us would like to be. What this next class will produce noone can say for a few years, rankings don't guarantee squatola.

In terms of player development, any ideas on the why?

-is it the particular individuals that we have brought in?
-is it the coaching staff?
-is it a more pervasive lack of patience on the part of players ie. they're trying to position themselves to be one or two and done, not solid 4 year players?
-injuries
-all of the above

 

[RF2044]

I think everyone acknowledges that recent classes haven't been among our greatest. We are all arguing in terms of degree; things aren't nearly as bad as some want to make it out, but we also aren't getting the players that we need in order to finish top 4 in the ACC, which is where most of us would like to be. What this next class will produce noone can say for a few years, rankings don't guarantee squatola.

In terms of player development, any ideas on the why?

-is it the particular individuals that we have brought in?
-is it the coaching staff?
-is it a more pervasive lack of patience on the part of players ie. they're trying to position themselves to be one or two and done, not solid 4 year players?
-injuries
-all of the above

IMO, much of the struggles in recent years can be chalked up to two factors: First, we had lots of players leave earlier than expected, which created year-to-year transitional discontinuity. Imagine having Ennis and / or Grant in 2015, or McCullough for 2016, or Malachi for 2017. Or Lydon last year. In no way do I begrudge their decision to leave, I'm just suggesting that we might not have been in this seeming cycle of perpetually starting over every year if things had worked out a bit differently if one or more of those players had decided to stick around a little bit longer.

Second, we couldn't build any depth due to the NCAA penalties / scholarship restrictions. This has been discussed a lot, no need to delve further into things here. But suffice it to say, being down 4 or 3 scholarships -- ~25% of a normal roster, really hurt.

 

[kingtidge]

More then a decent line up for sure. I think we have to add a PF/C type whether its a transfer a JUCO some late guy who blew up, a Euro recruit, something.

I wouldn't hold your breath... getting a p5, ready-for-primetime center via juco or grad transfer is not a very high probaility... it's one of the hardest positions to fill via that route.

Not saying it can't happen, just saying that of all the positions on the floor, the likelihood is not high.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I wouldn't hold your breath... getting a p5, ready-for-primetime center via juco or grad transfer is not a very high probaility... it's one of the hardest positions to fill via that route.

Not saying it can't happen, just saying that of all the positions on the floor, the likelihood is not high.

Certainly don't think we can land someone whose ready for primetime as you noted but even getting a guy like Carrigan or a partial project at least gives us some depth at Center. Were a Sidibe knee injury from having Ajak being the only true center on the roster even though Marek can play there. We clearly have struggled to get a high end C recruit, going to have to try and build/develop one.

 

[RF2044]

Certainly don't think we can land someone whose ready for primetime as you noted but even getting a guy like Carrigan or a partial project at least gives us some depth at Center. Were a Sidibe knee injury from having Ajak being the only true center on the roster even though Marek can play there. We clearly have struggled to get a high end C recruit, going to have to try and build/develop one.

What's most frustrating is that the staff recognized this last spring and tried to bring in guys who would be system fits, as developmental 5's in Manuel / Osunnyi. Glad we didn't land the first one, as what's unfolded since then indicates that he's a flake, but it would have been nice to have a guy like Osunnyi in the hopper for a year or two to develop.

At this point, our best bet is to have Chukwu finish the season on a positive note and be receptive to applying for that 6th year / coming back next season.

I've asked this numerous times, but is there any evidence beyond that one tweet that we're actively involved with Carrigan?

 

[cuse10]

Fair enough. But we haven’t had a recruit the level of Stewart since Melo. (Bazley was close. McCullough and Fab were around the top 10-15 but were much more raw prospects based on height and athleticism.) Yet we’ve made two Final Fours and had two #1 seeds since then and our second golden age (2008-2015). 2010 and 2012 were arguably all time great SU teams. In 2010, we only had 3 top 100 guys on the entire roster (Scoop, KrisJo and Rick Jackson). Let that blow your mind for a second.

You had experience and depth in 2010 which allowed that season to happen. There were competent bigs from 2009-2015. The center position has been SUs area of concern for too long now. Lydon was playing the 5 in some instances.

 

[JeremyCuse]

What's most frustrating is that the staff recognized this last spring and tried to bring in guys who would be system fits, as developmental 5's in Manuel / Osunnyi. Glad we didn't land the first one, as what's unfolded since then indicates that he's a flake, but it would have been nice to have a guy like Osunnyi in the hopper for a year or two to develop.

At this point, our best bet is to have Chukwu finish the season on a positive note and be receptive to applying for that 6th year / coming back next season.

I've asked this numerous times, but is there any evidence beyond that one tweet that we're actively involved with Carrigan?

Agreed, really wanted to land Osunnyi as the Stewart, Wahab, Kofi, recruitments seemed like they were going to end in disappointment based on our recent issues with Centers. Certainly not writing off Ajak by any measure but I think we really needed to land a game 1 ready guy or have someone in the fold already to go. As far as Chukwu, even though nothings official I think the word is that Pascal is is simply ready to move after next year with this life and he's highly unlikely to come back.

I think we have expressed some interest before but I don't think we have been actively going after him pending outcome of the Stewart recruitment. Carrigan is clearly not Zion Williamson but I think at this point adding him to the fold (assuming the staff wants to) would be a positive development as it adds another big body with potential who could if nothing else give us some depth and a guy who can hopefully develop.

Chukwu has played much better the last few games so I am hopeful we are maybe getting these guys back on track but assuming he's not back next year I would be terrified of having to rely on Sidibe as the main guy as he hasn't shown the ability to be any sort of consistent contributor where as Chukwu has despite a brutal start to the season.

 

[RF2044]

Agreed, really wanted to land Osunnyi as the Stewart, Wahab, Kofi, recruitments seemed like they were going to end in disappointment based on our recent issues with Centers. Certainly not writing off Ajak by any measure but I think we really needed to land a game 1 ready guy or have someone in the fold already to go. As far as Chukwu, even though nothings official I think the word is that Pascal is is simply ready to move after next year with this life and he's highly unlikely to come back.

I think we have expressed some interest before but I don't think we have been actively going after him pending outcome of the Stewart recruitment. Carrigan is clearly not Zion Williamson but I think at this point adding him to the fold (assuming the staff wants to) would be a positive development as it adds another big body with potential who could if nothing else give us some depth and a guy who can hopefully develop.

Chukwu has played much better the last few games so I am hopeful we are maybe getting these guys back on track but assuming he's not back next year I would be terrified of having to rely on Sidibe as the main guy as he hasn't shown the ability to be any sort of consistent contributor where as Chukwu has despite a brutal start to the season.

I liked Osunnyi's potential, as well -- could see him being a fit here, too bad it didn't work out.

Ajak IMO fills the same slot as Osunnyi -- we were always looking to bring in two bigs in this class, to make up for not landing one late last spring. Ajak was supposed to be that second guy. BUT I do believe that he's a lot closer to being what Moqui describes than some others. He has a lot more upside than what many are giving him credit for. But short term impact? Hard to say.

I think we need Sidibe to blow up, which could certainly happen if he's able to spend an offseason working on his game instead of having his leg in an immobilizer that prevented him from playing / working on improving his skills. I'm way higher on his upside than you seem to be -- the injury was a huge setback.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Chukwu.

It will also be interesting to see if Carrigan moves to the forefront at this point. I agree that the staff was probably waiting to see what happened with Stewart, then Wahab, before moving down the list. Wouldn't have made sense to take Carrigan ahead of Stewart [just for example]. Don't feel great about our chances with Wahab, but who knows?

 

[pfister1]

I think I would take a pass on Carrigan and I assume that the staff has made that decision as well based on the lack of chatter around him.

He is playing JUCO ball and only averaging 3.8 ppg. / 6.1 rpg. If you want to take him just to have a body, then go for it, but I don't see him being a contributor here based on what he doesn't appear to be doing at Odessa.

I think our best hope for a productive 5, short of a new name, is Sidibe, not another marginal prospect. BS is two years into the program and has shown flashes, he has the kind of profile that everyone is always carrying on about wanting to see more of - - a four year program guy.

 

[kingtidge]

Certainly don't think we can land someone whose ready for primetime as you noted but even getting a guy like Carrigan or a partial project at least gives us some depth at Center. Were a Sidibe knee injury from having Ajak being the only true center on the roster even though Marek can play there. We clearly have struggled to get a high end C recruit, going to have to try and build/develop one.

Agreed.

Given our Canadian recruiting pipeline success, wondering why we might not have had a chat with this guy?

Jaden Bediako, Canada, Center (BK)

Relatively close by (from Toronto suburbs)...

Looks like he committed to Santa Clara last month.

Maybe we did speak with him or didn't think he was a good fit or whatever the myriad of other reasons why we might have passed...

But agreed, we could use some depth.

 

[orangecuse]

Agreed, really wanted to land Osunnyi as the Stewart, Wahab, Kofi, recruitments seemed like they were going to end in disappointment based on our recent issues with Centers. Certainly not writing off Ajak by any measure but I think we really needed to land a game 1 ready guy or have someone in the fold already to go. As far as Chukwu, even though nothings official I think the word is that Pascal is is simply ready to move after next year with this life and he's highly unlikely to come back.

I think we have expressed some interest before but I don't think we have been actively going after him pending outcome of the Stewart recruitment. Carrigan is clearly not Zion Williamson but I think at this point adding him to the fold (assuming the staff wants to) would be a positive development as it adds another big body with potential who could if nothing else give us some depth and a guy who can hopefully develop.

Chukwu has played much better the last few games so I am hopeful we are maybe getting these guys back on track but assuming he's not back next year I would be terrified of having to rely on Sidibe as the main guy as he hasn't shown the ability to be any sort of consistent contributor where as Chukwu has despite a brutal start to the season.

It's peculiar to say the least that we haven't been able to land a top/highly regarded prospect at the 5 spot the last two recruiting cycles, especially with the strong need and opportunity for PT that exists there. It does appear, well imo, that we've been settling on the premise that 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing when it comes to the center spot.

 

[longislandcuse]

After missing out on Stewart, I’m struggling to envision a season next year where we don’t strongly explore playing Marek exclusively at the 5.

Sidibe isn’t healthy enough to rely on and JBA is a developmental guy, so the need for a legit backup 5 is almost emergency status.

However, if Brissett comes back, he and Hughes would make one of, if not the, most talented 3/4 tandem in CBB. They will get their minutes, and if Guerrier is the primary backup at the F spot, we’re going to want him taking up every minute one of those two isn’t on the floor (based on comps/reviews).

If I’m the staff, I’m desperately looking for a grad transfer big, but preparing for Marek to be groomed all offseason to play the 5.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[JeremyCuse]

After missing out on Stewart, I’m struggling to envision a season next year where we don’t strongly explore playing Marek exclusively at the 5.

Sidibe isn’t healthy enough to rely on and JBA is a developmental guy, so the need for a legit backup 5 is almost emergency status.

However, if Brissett comes back, he and Hughes would make one of, if not the, most talented 3/4 tandem in CBB. They will get their minutes, and if Guerrier is the primary backup at the F spot, we’re going to want him taking up every minute one of those two isn’t on the floor (based on comps/reviews).

If I’m the staff, I’m desperately looking for a grad transfer big, but preparing for Marek to be groomed all offseason to play the 5.

OB coming back will be a huge help, despite his issues hes a guy who can play 35+ at 4 or 3 and really gives us another year to find another option at the PF spot. Sidibe, AJak and hopefully whoever else we get would give us a 3 headed monster at Center where we can hopefully red-shirt someone.

 

[General Joe]

It's peculiar to say the least that we haven't been able to land a top/highly regarded prospect at the 5 spot the last two recruiting cycles, especially with the strong need and opportunity for PT that exists there. It does appear, well imo, that we've been settling on the premise that 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing when it comes to the center spot.

We all love Syracuse. But when you watch our games we literally throw the bal in the post 1x 2x max per game. Most of the time the 5 comes up sets a pick and or gets the ball 26 ft away from the rim (see Dolezaj backdoor passes last game) if i am a good 5, why in the world would i come to Syracuse just to set picks and pass the ball to a guard. And get yelled at our benched if i make any mistakes.

 

[Sherman20]

So to summarize... you're saying this year alone, Duke had more players in the Top 10 than we've had in the Top 100 any of those 7 seasons? Boo my post, but tip the cap to the deft summary? I think I need to drink harder.

(on The Upside[tm], it makes me appreciate what JB does with what he as a bit more...still going to drink harder[test driving a "Natty Daddy" atm] though, lol).

EDIT: sometimes when I want to defend the recruiting, it feels like being the fat kid in Bad Santa who saves bad Santa from that Samir guy from Office Space at the end of this short video(I want to watch it just to cheer me up. The "recruiting" is what would be "Santa" in this allegory. ...As an aside[if anyone cares], before I banned myself from bars, I sometimes felt like a couple different moments[or had them happen] of this video when making public appearances, no joke) : (warning, language not suitable for work or around minors/elderly/Vietnamese/fans of the real Santa)

We all love Syracuse. But when you watch our games we literally throw the bal in the post 1x 2x max per game. Most of the time the 5 comes up sets a pick and or gets the ball 26 ft away from the rim (see Dolezaj backdoor passes last game) if i am a good 5, why in the world would i come to Syracuse just to set picks and pass the ball to a guard. And get yelled at our benched if i make any mistakes.

Because recruits and their parents should be smart enough to know that it’s about personnel. When teams have big men who are good enough to post up or play in the paint, Syracuse has always given them the ball and gotten them touches. It’s only been a few years since we had one of those dominant big men (Rak). And we even did it with DaJuan but he was hampered by injury. Speaking of Stewart, when he was growing up in Rochester, we had AO and Rick Jackson and Fab, and I thought his family are Cuse fans.

 

[AZOrange]

We're still in contact with Wahab.

Best chance is carrigan at this point

 

[AZOrange]

IMHO...recruiting is adequate. Not great, but not as horrific as some of you suggest.

Player development however is another story ...

We have talent on our roster.

PD is a HUGE issue right now. A big part of it is fitting guys into unnatural positions