In light of Syracuse basketball’s self-imposing postseason ban, there are many questions Orange fans want answered sooner rather than later. One of them is whether or not Jim Boeheim can keep the highly-touted 2015 recruiting class glued together.
According to Syracuse.com’s Mike Waters, Boeheim and company have already reassured recruits the program is in good hands. The current players on the roster are the only ones who will have to deal with the punishments. More specifically, has Syracuse lost its shot at landing Rochester, NY star Thomas Bryant? The Fizz immediately wondered if the allegations against the Orange would shut down the Bryant-to-SU mesmerization. From Waters:
‚ÄúBoeheim also called Linda Bryant, the mother of Thomas Bryant, a 6-9 center who has yet to decide where he will go to college. Bryant also was named to the McDonald’s All-America game.¬†Linda Bryant declined to go into detail what she and Boeheim talked about.‚Äù
The possibility obviously remains high to land the 4-star skilled, power forward. Bryant recently added offers from NCAA powerhouses in Kentucky and Kansas. And like Waters noted, Bryant being recently named to the McDonald’s All-American game just makes him a more desirable to chip to an already loaded class.
As we’ve mentioned before, his mother has a huge say in where he ends up deciding to go to school. What’s troubling here is Linda Bryant has typically been more outspoken about her son’s future. She’s told multiple media outlets in the past Thomas had it narrowed down to Syracuse and Indiana.
Now Linda wants to keep quiet about the conversation between herself and Boeheim. Not sure if that’s a good sign or a bad one. The Per’Fesser probably has something to do with her silence on the matter. Does Linda’s refusal to spill the beans on details mean she’s lost confidence in the SU program?
Regardless of the question, if any of these recruits and their families, including the undecided Bryant, have any doubts about the cleanliness of Boeheim’s program, just remember what he told the press in Pittsburgh over the weekend:
“I don’t give a s*** what those people think.”
For some positive spin off of this, at least the parents answered Boeheim’s phone calls. It shows they’re still listening to the Hall of Fame HC. As for Bryant, the wait simply continues. Hopefully Boeheim’s conversation with Bryant’s mother cleared everything up.
Posted:  Brendan Glasheen
