Back by popular demand: the Syracuse basketball season. While the Syracuse football team tries to find its way to a bowl game for the third time in four years, the Orange basketball team embarks on another season as a national power, with the season getting underway, albeit in an unofficial exhibition game capacity, Friday night.
Due to the early departure of several former stars, the Orange find themselves with a rather young roster, comprised of just two seniors and one junior. The two most important players this season are likely to be senior C.J. Fair, the preseason ACC player of the year, and freshman Tyler Ennis, who will step in as the team’s starting point guard. Fair is as steady and dependable as they get, and by all accounts, Ennis will be the same, being praised as not only a talented player, but a player who is poised far beyond his years.
With steady play from their two most important players, how good Syracuse will end up being this season will come down to its collection of four sophomores. The group has come together in an unconventional way, with two true sophomores, one redshirt sophomore, and one transfer with sophomore eligibility, but how those four players perform and how much they improve upon what they contributed last year will determine how good the Orange is this season and how far they go in March.
Forward Jerami Grant is the most experienced of the group and is expected to make the biggest leap in his sophomore season. He impressed when he got a chance to play extended minutes last year when James Southerland sat out with an academic issue, and Grant stood out in August when the team played four exhibition games in Canada. Defensively, he’s a perfect fit for the 2-3 zone, and offensively he should be ready to display confidence taking the ball to the basket, as well as an improved jump shot. Grant boasts impressive athleticism, and if his immense talent and potential shine through, the four points and three rebounds he averaged last season will sky rocket, perhaps to the point of making him and Fair one of the top forward tandems in the country.
Joining Grant in the frontcourt is DaJuan Coleman, who began last season as a starter, but was a nonfactor from February on after missing time with an injury. Coleman’s biggest issue last season was his defense, which kept him off the floor and prevented him from making an impact on the offensive end. Coleman should be better prepared defensively heading into his sophomore season, and if he can be a competent defender and rebounder on defense, he will have a chance to play meaningful minutes and make a difference on the offensive end, where he can give the Orange a legitimate scoring threat in the post.
No sophomore has more pressure on him entering the season than Trevor Cooney, who came to Syracuse with the reputation as being a great outside shooter, but struggled last season after redshirting his first year on campus. Cooney failed to make an impact coming off the bench last season, but it could be a little easier for him to find his confidence shooting the ball this year, knowing that he’ll be a starter and won’t have such a short leash on him if he misses his first couple of shots. The Orange have a few other players capable of making perimeter shots, but they need Cooney to be their primary threat from outside, which he’s capable of being. However, if he struggles shooting the way he did last year, it could cause problems for Syracuse on the offensive end.
The final sophomore is Duke transfer Michael Gbinije. After playing sparingly at Duke two years ago, Gbinije had to sit out all of last season, and he will now be expected to be the primary back up for both Ennis and Cooney. Gbinije spent last season learning the point guard position, and he will need to be a reliable back up if Ennis has growing pains as a freshman. He will also split time with Cooney at the two-guard position, where he will give the Syracuse defense plenty of size at the top of the zone and the Orange offense a versatile scorer off the bench. He’s not as essential as Cooney, but he can give Syracuse a big lift if he plays well this year.
These four sophomores are all potential difference makers for Syracuse this season. The Orange know what to expect from its upper classmen, and they have a good idea of what Ennis will give them, but Grant, Coleman, Cooney, and Gbinije are all players that have a lot of room to grow from last season, and how much each of them improves upon their performance from last year will determine how good this year’s Syracuse team will ultimately be. Fair and Ennis will lead the way, but the four members of this new sophomore class will all be x-factors.
Bryan Zarpentine covers Syracuse Orange football and basketball for ChatSports.com. You can follow him on twitter @BZarp and @ChatSyracuse. Also, add him to your network on Google, and keep up with Syracuse at ChatSports.com/Syracuse-Orange.
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