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With tip-off for Syracuse men’s basketball’s 2021-22 season just days away, head coach Jim Boeheim began the team’s annual media day highlighting the newcomers to the team. Syracuse returns two starters from last season’s team, Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard III. New to the team are Jimmy Boeheim from Cornell, Cole Swider from Villanova, Symir Torrence from Marquette and five-star freshman Benny Williams.

Syracuse ended last season with an 18-10 overall record, eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Orange earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament as the 11th seed and behind strong shooting from Buddy and Girard, and SU upset San Diego State and West Virginia before falling to Houston in the Sweet Sixteen. Over the offseason, the team lost three starters — Quincy Guerrier, Marek Dolezaj and Alan Griffin. Now, Syracuse looks to build on its success with a variety of new transfers.

Here are three takeaways from the Orange’s Tip-Off event:

Improved shooting

One of Syracuse’s strengths in its run to the Sweet Sixteen last season was shooting, especially with Buddy, who scored 125 points in five NCAA and ACC Tournament games. The Orange still have Buddy and Girard but also add Swider, who was one of the nation’s best shooters in high school. Boeheim mentioned how Swider’s unique blend of size and shooting prowess gives Syracuse a new dimension to its offense.

“He’s probably the best forward shooter that we’ve had that I can think of,” Boeheim said. “He shoots at a high level, a very high level.”

Swider injured his ankle at a recent practice, but Boeheim expects him to be back on the court for the start of the season.

Replacing Marek Dolezaj

Boeheim said he expects the offense to run a little differently this year based on personnel. He called Marek Dolezaj, who graduated after last season, the “MVP of the team” for Dolezaj’s role in running the offense and defense.

There are a few candidates to replace Dolezaj’s unique skill set, including Jimmy and Williams. At the Orange Tip-Off, the pair played both small and power forward with differing styles. Jimmy came off screens to catch and shoot 3 pointers while Williams would often handle the ball and try to either create his own scoring opportunity or pass to another shooter.

The pair, along with Swider, will replace Guerrier, Griffin and Robert Braswell. Boeheim also noted center Jesse Edwards’ size should also help the Orange improve their offensive and defensive rebounding as this year’s team is bigger than last year’s.

Insight on next season

As much as the focus was on this season, Boeheim also addressed any speculation that he might be retiring when Jimmy and Buddy graduate. The answer was a resounding no.

“I’ve never said that. I’ve never really thought about it,” Boeheim said. “If you want the absolute truth I coach this team and recruit the same as I have for 20 years.”

Boeheim also said he told next year’s recruits that he would be coaching them. The class of 2022 is headlined by two four-star forwards in Chris Bunch and Justin Taylor. Three-star recruits Quadir Copeland, Peter Carey and Maliq Brown are also a part of the group.

“It’s the best recruiting class we’ve ever had, period,” Boeheim said. “When you look at the balance in a recruiting class, it’s hard to get one guy at every position and we did that.”

Published on October 22, 2021 at 10:49 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu