Syracuse basketball has dipped into the transfer game more in recent years, most notably the graduate transfer market. Two years ago, the Orange brought in Pascal Chukwu after his freshman season at Providence and last year Syracuse attracted the likes of Andrew White III and John Gillon for their final year of eligibilty. Well, now the Orange are looking to bring in another player after just one season at a different school. Elijah Hughes, a guard who played his freshman season at Eastern Carolina, annoucned the he is transferring and is set to visit Syracuse within the next two weeks.
Hughes is 6-foot-6 and missed the first eight games of his freshman season with a foot injury. He ended up playing in 20 games and averaged a hair under eight points per game. It is interesting that Syracuse would target such a player, as he was never on the radar of any of the top programs when he was coming out of high school and the other two programs after his services now are Seton Hall and Iona.
With that said, Hughes does fit the precedent set by Michael Gbinije and the overall mold of a Syracuse team. Though converted from the forward position, Gbinije was a starting point guard for the Orange at 6-foot-7. This is something fits incredibly well with Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone system, as well know, he loves length. There is no way to know if Hughes is coming to Syracuse and there is no way to know if he does come, what kind or role he would play or how effective he would be, but we do know that a 6-foot-6 guard at the top of the 2-3 zone is a good thing. Syracuse is known for being long and it is possible that the Orange suffered a bit having a sub-six-foot guard at the top of the zone this season.
It is no secret that the Orange need someone, anyone, who can play guard, and while Hughes will not be eligible for the 2017-18 season, he could add some sort of depth to the position in the future.
