Last week former Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf went onto the SLAM podcast to talk March Madness, his old days at Syracuse and his personal life. Here’s what he had to say.
 On The NCAA
You want a hot take? Here’s a hot take from Devendorf in five words:
“The NCAA owes us, man.”
Not that you would expect him to, but Devendorf isn’t apologizing for Syracuse making the NCAA Tournament. It’s not exactly what the narrative has been in the national media lately, but Devendorf said the Orange deserved its spot and even pointed back to his playing days to prove it.
“They’ve been on us hard for the past couple of years,” Devendorf said. “[In 2007] we ended the year 10-2 and beat a great Georgetown team that was on, like, a 12-game winning streak, and we still didn’t get into the tournament. I guess if you look at it like that, they owe us.”
On Playing In The Big East
Devendorf then went further into his playing days, specifically what it was like playing in the old Big East.
‚ÄúI think the Big East — how it was — was the best conference that was ever made up‚Ķ I remember playing against UConn and there were 7 NBA draft picks on that team,‚Äù Devendorf said. ‚ÄúAt the end of the day that Big East Tournament, there was no other tournament like that in the country.‚Äù
He also touched on the six overtime game against UConn.
“For me, it’s the greatest college basketball game ever played… I definitely remember every single part of the game.”
And what about standing up on the scorer’s table at the end of regulation?
“I have no regrets about what I did… I hit the shot and the adrenaline took me right to the sidelines and I stepped up and said a few choice words.”
On Being One Of The Most Hated College Players Ever
He loves it, obviously. Devendorf was recently ranked No. 9 on Sporting News’ list of the most-hated college basketball players of all-time. Here’s what he said when asked if he was proud of the spot:
“Absolutely. I think some people look at it the wrong way… at the end of the day, those people were passionate about what they did.”
That’s certainly one way to look at it. Not the way most of college basketball saw it, but a way nonetheless. And you know Syracuse fans wouldn’t want him any other way.
On The Future
Could Eric Devendorf be the next Syracuse guard to go into coaching? It certainly seemed that way when SLAM asked him about the idea.
“I’ve been working on getting back up there, actually. I actually almost had a job up there working on the staff. We’re still working on it right now.”
What does it mean? Is Devendorf going to be rubbing shoulders with Gerry McNamara and Adrian Autry on the Syracuse bench soon? We’ll have to wait and see…
You can listen to SLAM’s full podcast here, and follow us on Twitter @OrangeFizz for constant updates on Syracuse football and basketball.
Posted: Nathan Dickinson
