The Syracuse men’s basketball team is anxiously awaiting Friday, Oct. 3, which will mark the 2014-15 season’s first practice. As usual, the Orange enter a new season after waving goodbye to former greats.
Entering the 2011-12 season, the Orange had to make do without Wes Johnson, Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku.
In the 2012-13 season, the Orange lost Kris Joseph, Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters and Fab Melo.
Last season, the Orange lost Michael Carter-Williams, Brandon Triche and James Southerland.
This season, Tyler Ennis, C.J. Fair, Jerami Grant and Baye Moussa Keita are all gone.
Luckily for the Orange, the cupboard remains stocked.
Rakeem Christmas, who completed his undergraduate degree in just three years, will be a graduate student at the forward position. Also returning are Michael Gbinije, Trevor Cooney and, hopefully, a rehabilitated DaJuan Coleman, who has been struggling in his recovery from leg surgery.
Two highly touted freshmen, Chris McCullough and Kaleb Joseph, will look to make an immediate impact, and a bevy of other returners will compete for playing time.
In its first season in the ACC, Syracuse started with a 25-0 record and ascended to No. 1 in the polls. Scoring problems and injuries were but two of the reasons the Orange sputtered to a 28-6 record. They went 3-6 in their final nine games, including a third-round 55-53 loss to Dayton in the NCAA tournament.
In the previous two seasons, the Orange made it to the Elite Eight and Final Four, respectively, and the team is excited to come back for another deep run in the tournament.
Here are five reasons Orange fans should be excited, too.
//from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1mjVPx8
via IFTTT September 18, 2014 at 03:25PM
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