Earlier this week, The Fizz took a look at some elite potential targets for Syracuse basketball’s Class of 2019. Was it to help alleviate the pain of Darius Bazley’s unexpected departure? We try our best. However, there is already one bright spot locked in for the Orange. Class of 2019 commit Brycen Goodine won the USA Today Rhode Island Player of the Year.
This isn’t Goodine’s first player of the year award in the state. He also won the Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year. The junior is coming off a stellar season where he averaged 21.1 points on 52.3 percent shooting from deep. He also contributed 6.5 rebounds to go along with 5 assists. Defensively, he averaged 2.4 steals per game. That bodes well for SU at the top of the zone where the Orange perennially has one of the ACC’s leaders in takeaways.
While Rhode Island isn’t a hoops hotbed, it’s still very impressive that Goodine won the award as just a junior. The state only has one player in 247Sports’ rankings, albeit it is Villanova commit Cole Swider. The former SU target is the number 39 recruit in the class of 2018 and a teammate of Goodine’s at St. Andrew’s School. Swider was not eligible for the USA Today Rhode Island Player of the Year award because he is a fifth year player. Likewise, Goodine won’t be eligible to win next year’s award because it will be his fifth year.
Since he is going to be a fifth year player, Goodine technically could bypass that year and reclassify, similar to what Marvin Bagley did at Duke. However, Goodine tells the Fizz that the Syracuse coaching staff has not asked him about reclassifying. Likewise, Goodine says he needs the extra year since he lost one due to an ACL injury his freshman year.
Goodine is currently a four star shooting guard ranked 138th in the country and the best player in Massachusetts by 247Sports.com, despite going to school in Rhode Island. He committed to the Orange back in September after Jim Boeheim and Gerry McNamara visited him. If Goodine continues to play like this, don’t be surprised if he moves up the rankings. SU seems to have a solid building block for its Class of 2019.
