Syracuse men’s basketball will open the season at the Dome Tuesday night against Lafayette. It will be the first time Syracuse hoops fans get to watch their team in the Dome in 619 days, marking a nearly two year break. Coach Boeheim has expressed his relief that the team knows they’ll be playing games this year, saying that “last year at this time we didn’t really know anything,” but now we know fans will finally be back.
When they return, they’ll see a SU team with a bit of a new look to it. With the additions of transfers Jimmy Boeheim (Cornell), Cole Swider (Villanova), and Symir Torrence (Marquette), the Orange will have five legitimate threats from the three point line with Joe Girard and Buddy Boeheim.
In fact, some of the new guys have even shown off their shooting skills already. SU shot 11 of 26 (42.3%) from the three point line in both exhibition matchups against Pace and Le Moyne. In 2020, the Orange shot just 34% from deep. The success in the exhibitions was due to Swider, who shot a combined 9 of 15 in the two games. In fact, Coach Boeheim said that Swider is probably the best shooter at the forward position SU has had since Preston Shumpert, who graduated in 2002.
Despite their shooting prowess, the Orange do have some concerns in the middle of the zone. They’ve already lost big man Bourama Sidibe to another knee injury and he’ll be out for at least a month. That leaves junior Jesse Edwards as the only player on the roster with experience playing in the middle of the zone.
However, there has been a lot of hype around sophomore Frank Anselem. Coach Boeheim said that “Frank has improved the most out of anyone. He's just more aggressive and is using his physical attributes better.” Anselem played just 26 minutes last season.
This new-look Orange squad will open up with a Patriot League opponent in Lafayette. Last season, the Leopards were only able to get 15 games in, but finished with a strong 9-6 record. However, the Leopards did lose their top two scorers from last year’s team.
SU will face off with Lafayette to tip off this season this Tuesday at 7 p.m. WAER’s coverage of the opener begins with an hour long Countdown to Tipoff at 6.