Tuesday night Syracuse‚Äôs season continued its violent downward spiral with an embarrassing loss to Pitt, the ACC‚Äôs worst competition. There are plenty of questions surrounding the team and its hall of fame coach at this point, but perhaps paramount is the status of SU‚Äôs 4-star recruit. Benny Williams hasn‚Äôt performed as advertised through the entirety of this season. Some around the college basketball landscape said pre-season that this kid had one and done potential, he most certainly does not. Regardless though, Williams is most definitely more valuable on the floor than John Bol Ajak, right? Jim Boeheim doesn‚Äôt think so. Coach played Ajak 10 minutes while Williams got a measly 3. Who cares if Ajak works hard or looks good in practice!? Everybody and their uncle knows Williams is the far more talented player! You’ve got to think Williams has thought of jumping ship, right? Sure, he made the claim earlier this year that he‚Äôs committed to the team and will not be transferring:¬†
Coach Boeheim, he’s a legend that speaks for himself. He knows what he’s talking about. Whenever he speaks, you have to listen. He knows what he’s talking about. Coaches were the same through the recruiting process as they are now, which I love. There’s nothing to hide about it. And I won’t be transferring. So I want to put any rumors of me transferring… I will be here. I will fight through this, whatever this is.”
Though at some point you got to think he’s reconsidering right?
Look at the minutes he received in SU’s last 5 games!
Vs. Pitt: 4
Vs. FSU: 0 (!)
Vs. Clemson: 5
@ Duke: 7
@ Pitt: 3
This team is in the thick of conference play, and Boeheim doesn’t believe his highly-rated recruit has the chops to play more than a few minutes! By now, SU fans are used to it. The team finally gets its hand on a valuable player, and then boom, transferred. Some didn’t even get that far. In the case of Darius Bazley, Dior Johnson, and Kamari Lands, they got out before they stepped foot on campus as students. Syracuse has a serious issue that can’t get pushed to the side any longer. For some reason, guys don’t want to play for the team, and as a result, we’re left with a roster like this one that leaves Coach Boeheim saying things like this regarding the possibility of playing in the NCAA tournament:
And what does this mean to the guys who are coming in next year who make up Boeheim‚Äôs self-proclaimed ‚Äúgreatest recruiting class he’s ever had?‚Äù It‚Äôs not incredibly encouraging that the hall of fame coach they were all recruited upon is having his worst season EVER.
The program is in trouble. Boeheim will have to hope his precious 2022 class is as advertised because if it’s not, there’s a chance next year is worse than this one.
