Syracuse, N.Y. – Who are the greatest Syracuse players when taking into consideration both their college and pro careers?
It’s an outstanding question. I had never thought of the greatest Syracuse players in that way before.
The combination of college and NBA eliminates a few Syracuse legends from the discussion and, interestingly, adds a few more to the debate.
We’ve got that plus a lot more in this week’s Mike’s Mailbox.
Q: Considering their whole career, including the NBA, who are the five greatest basketball players to play at Syracuse? Carmelo Anthony, Dave Bing and Derrick Coleman are probably no-brainers. Who would be the last two?
Stephen P.
Mike: I love the questions that are perfect fodder for a debate, and this is a really good one.
I would have to agree with Stephen that if you are taking a player’s entire career into account, then Dave Bing, Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Coleman are no-brainers. All three were absolutely terrific in college and in the NBA.
It gets a lot tougher to fill in the next two spots.
I narrowed it down to these three guys: Rony Seikaly, Danny Schayes and Billy Owens.
Seikaly spent 11 years in the NBA. He averaged double-figures in each of his first 10 seasons. He averaged a double-double in five seasons. Foot injuries kept him from playing at a high level for a longer period of time.
People forget how good Owens was because, like Seikaly, he also had injuries that impacted his pro career. But Owens averaged at least 10 points per game in each of his first seven seasons in the league.
Schayes played an incredible 18 seasons in the NBA. People think of him as a journeyman, but he scored 10 points per game in five different seasons. In his seventh year in the league, Schayes averaged 13.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game for Denver. Imagine how big of a contract that gets a player today.
I’m about ready to move Jerami Grant into this group. He averaged 22.3 points per game this past season for the Detroit Pistons.
Carmelo Anthony and Dave Bing are the only former Syracuse players to average more in a single season in the NBA than Grant did last year. And now Grant’s on the USA Basketball team in the Olympics.
Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant (9) dunks over Portland Trail Blazers forward Robert Covington (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) APAP
Other players that I considered, but didn’t quite have in this same group were Etan Thomas, Wes Johnson, Hakim Warrick and Dion Waiters.
In the end, I couldn’t decide between Seikaly, Schayes and Owens, and I wasn’t ready to put Grant up there yet, so I’m just going to go with a top six.
Q: Do commits recruit people they want to play with or will the coaches tell them who they want?
William R.
Mike: You will often hear that high school players talk to each other about where they’re planning on going to college.
Recruits will get sales pitches from other high school players who have already committed to a college.
For instance, we know that Justin Taylor, a 6-6 guard from Charlottesville, Virginia, who has committed to Syracuse, has been encouraging SU targets like Kyle Filipowski and Quadir Copeland to pick the Orange as well. Current Syracuse guard Symir Torrence knows 2022 recruit JJ Starling and would like to convince the Baldwinsville native to stay home and play for the Orange.
College coaches and their assistants set the agenda for who they’re going to recruit. They don’t tell a committed player to actively recruit on their behalf, but they’re comfortable with it if the connection happens organically.
What college coaches really don’t like is when a high school player starts talking to another recruit that the staff isn’t interested in. The coaches might have put in a lot of time on another recruit or maybe they just don’t think the other player is good enough or just not a good fit. It can get a little dicey, but it doesn’t happen very often.
Q: It was interesting to read that Alan Griffin and Elijah Hughes both had seasons where both shot 63% of their shots from 3-point territory. What Syracuse player shot the highest percentage of his shots from 3-point territory in a season?
Bill N.
Mike: For reference, Elijah Hughes took 64% of his shots from outside the 3-point line during the 2018-19 season. Alan Griffin attempted 63% of his shots from outside the arc during his sophomore year at Illinois.
Those aren’t even close to the highest percentage of 3-pointers for a Syracuse player.
Trevor Cooney attempted 72% of his shots from beyond the 3-point line as a sophomore in 2014. Cooney had 332 field goal attempts of which 240 were 3-pointers. He made 37.5% of his 3-point attempts, too.
Gerry McNamara was also at 72% as a junior (315 threes out of 433 shots) in 2005. McNamara made 34% of his threes.
Marius Janulis took 75% of his shots (173 out of 229) from 3-point range in 1997. Janulis connected on 39% of his 3-point attempts.
Syracuse's Andy Rautins shoots a 3-pointer from the corner against Colgate. Dennis Nett/The Post-StandardDennis Nett | Syracuse.com
But the Syracuse player who took the highest percentage of his shots from the 3-point line is Andy Rautins. Rautins took over 80% of his shots from 3-point range in each of his four seasons at Syracuse. His highest mark was 86.7% as a freshman, but he only had 53 field goal attempts of which 46 were threes.
As a junior in 2009, Rautins took 332 shots with 279 coming from the 3-point line. That’s 84%. Rautins made 36.6% of his threes that season.
As a senior, Rautins shot 40.7% from 3-point range while taking 81% of his shots from outside.
Q: Do Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim count against scholarships? Or can they be considered/designated walk-ons? Seems like an opportunity to get more scholarship players.
Joel S.
Mike: Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim are both on athletic scholarship at Syracuse and count toward the team’s 13-player scholarship limit.
It would be possible for the Boeheims to go off scholarship and take advantage of the tuition benefit granted to children of university employees.
But that’s not going to happen, mainly because there’s no need. It’s nearly impossible to find enough playing time to keep 10 or 11 players happy, much less 13. If the Boeheims were walk-ons, Syracuse would be up to 15 players on its roster. It’s totally unnecessary and would eventually lead to mass transfers.
Contact Mike Waters anytime: Email | Twitter
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