ACC Preview # 10 - Syracuse

A critical season for the post-Boeheim era.

ACC Preview #1 - UNC || ACC Preview #2 - NC State || ACC Preview #3 - Wake Forest || ACC Preview #4 - Virginia || ACC Preview #5 - Clemson || ACC Preview #6 - Georgia Tech || ACC Preview #7 - Notre Dame || ACC Preview #8 - Miami || ACC Preview #9 - Pitt

At this point, college basketball fans have gotten used to wholesale change and Syracuse is no exception: the Orange had massive losses. But the portal allows teams to rebuild quickly and recruiting is still a factor of course.

Syracuse lost Judah Mintz to the NBA and seven players to the portal. Quadir Copeland is off to McNeese State, Benny Williams will play for Johnny Dawkins at UCF, Mounir Hima will play for Kenny Blakeney at Howard, Justin Taylor is now at James Madison, Peter Carey found his level at Siena, William Patterson is at High Point and of course Maliq Brown is a Blue Devil.

Second-year coach Adrian Autry, who finished 20-12 in his first season (.625), has four players back: JJ Starling (6-5 junior), Chris Bell (6-7 junior), Naheem McLeod (7-4 senior) and Kyle “Hand” Cuff (6-2 junior).

Starling had a solid sophomore year after transferring from Notre Dame following Mike Brey’s retirement. He averaged 13.3 ppg, 1.9 assists, 3.2 rpg and shot reasonably well (45.7 percent overall, 32.4 percent from behind the line). He’s a good building block.

Bell is an excellent three point shooter and can be explosive: he lit up NC State for 26 points in the first half last season. He might need to diversify his game some, but he’s going to play.

McLeod is more of a question mark. He’s 7-4, but he’s never had a huge impact, either at Florida State or Syracuse. He would have been great in Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone but Autry prefers man-to-man defense. McLeod has limited offensive skill but, as they say, you can’t teach height. Injuries limited him to 11 games last season.

Kyle Cuff came off the bench last season to spell Starling and Mentz. He has primarily had a defensive role so far. He had significant knee injuries while at Kansas so it’s possible he may be significantly better as he puts that further behind him.

Autry brings in five transfers: Jyare Davis, 6-7, from Delaware, Jaquan Carlos, 6-0, from Hofstra, Eddie Lampkin, 6-11/265 from Colorado and Lucas Taylor, 6-5 from Georgia State. All four are seniors.

Chance Westry transferred from Auburn last spring but an injury kept him out last season. He was highly regarded coming out of high school but injuries have been a real concern.

Davis is an experienced wing who averaged 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists at Delaware. The Blue Hens have sent at least two useful players to ACC schools previously: Justyn Mutts, who chose Virginia Tech, and Andrew Carr, who was at Wake Forest before moving on to Kentucky for this season.

Davis was a competent player at Delaware. Can he raise his level enough to play for Syracuse? We’ll see soon.

Carlos is probably the first option to run the team. He passed well at Hofstra, averaging 6.7 apg. Can he defend at an ACC level? If so, he’ll be an excellent addition. He also shot nearly 90 percent from the free throw line, so guess who’s gong to have the ball at the end of a tight game.

By the way, Syracuse fans, if no one has thought to call him Jaquan “the Jackal” Carlos, give it a run.

Taylor started at Wake Forest before heading south to Georgia State. He didn’t do much at Wake Forest. Remember him? No?

Point made.

He did do well at Georgia Southern however, where he averaged 14.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game and shot reasonably well. More than likely he’ll provide depth for this team.

Then there’s Eddie Lampkin.

We were impressed by him in Colorado’s NCAA tournament win over Florida, where he was terrific. But he has a checkered history and perhaps (and perhaps understandably) some emotional issues.

Lampkin started at TCU but left alleging racism and mistreatment on the part of Jamie Dixon. His mother also accused Dixon of focusing on Lampkin’s looming transfer rather than the allegations of racism. She posted this on X: “If you all don’t tell the truth of how you have mistreated disrespected and said racial remarks toward him. We will. Please do not disrespect my son’s name because all we have been is patient with YOU. Handle US with Christian Values for once. Thank you.”

For his part, Lampkin said this: “I gave my all to y’all fr just can’t take it any more it’s been days I wanted to kill my self...It’s crazy y’all let him treat us like that cmon coach be 100 with me you know my pain I told you everyday I been hurting I’m tired of seeing my teammates hurting...We not slaves that’s how I feel real talk...This sh*t more than basketball I don’t have fun no more.

Dixon denied the allegations and as far as we can tell, no one else has supported them.

Lampkin left for Colorado, where he seemed very happy. In this article from March 22nd, he talks about finding a home and loving the Buffalo experience.

Five days later, he entered the portal again.

He posted a statement on X, saying that he was leaving for “personal reasons” and said he had no issues with the coaching staff.

In fairness to Lampkin, we tend to reduce athletes to their time in competition. Whatever happened at TCU, he has suffered an immense loss while there: his brother, Du’Vonta, was murdered in 2022. How heartbreaking.

Syracuse also brings in two freshmen: Donnie Freeman (6-10) and Elijah Moore, a 6-4 guard from the Bronx.

It’s been a while since Syracuse brought in a freshman as highly rated as Freeman. He’s a Top 10 prospect and a guy who should, at a minimum, get a crack at the NBA. He’s the highest-ranked Orange recruit since Carmelo Anthony, and Anthony is now 40 and his son is a promising Syracuse target.

So yes, it’s been a while. Getting Freeman is a big deal for Autry and Syracuse. He’s a McDonald’s All-American too. It’ll be a shock if he doesn't start.

Moore is a scorer - he hit 67 points in one game in high school including 13 threes. Offense is a given with him, but he’ll have to defend too and we just don’t know enough about him to know if he’s a willing defender.

Our best guess now is that Autry starts the season with Lampkin, Freeman and Bell up front, and then Starling and the Jackal (c’mon, Orange fans, that works) in the backcourt.

But he has options.

If Westry is 100 percent, he could have a huge impact. Moore has major offensive potential. Davis has experience that perhaps only Lampkin can match and Cuff brings the D.

It’s kind of a fascinating group really. The most fun thing about the Orange right now is Autry getting away from Boeheim’s fetish for the 2-3. This is only his second team, but he has a lot of athletic shooters to work with. He’s got some talent. Our biggest question, which can’t be fully answered yet, is how good a defensive teacher Autry is.

Offense at a certain point is instinctive. Guys go out and work on their shots and moves; they don’t work on defense in the same way - at least not normal players. A lot more teaching goes into defense and not everyone is willing to buy in.

If he can significantly improve Syracuse’s defense, then the Orange have a shot at being pretty good and the transition from Boeheim to Autry will continue to move along nicely.

If not? Well...