Syracuse quickly secured the services of Mounir Hima, a transfer center Duquense earlier this week. Now, the Orange have 12 scholarships filled out of a maximum of 13.
Those players are guards Joe Girard III, Symir Torrence, Judah Mintz, and Quadir Copeland; wings Benny Williams, Chris Bunch, and Justin Taylor, and bigs Jesse Edwards, John Bol Ajak, Hima, Maliq Brown, and Peter Carey.
SU has a nice balance of players that can play multiple positions on both ends of the floor. From playing both guard spots, interchangeable forwards, and maybe even small lineups, Jim Boeheim has a lot of flexibility heading into 2022-23.
This begs the question of what else will Boeheim do to supplement next year’s team. The group is undoubtedly young, with six freshmen, and an additional first-year player in the program.
Girard, Torrence, and Edwards will be the senior leaders, but a lot will likely be asked of Williams, just a sophomore, to lead by example in a group of underclassman wings and forwards.
The only position that would be possibly left to fortify on the roster is at forward, but it is unlikely Boeheim will do so. Reports have indicated Syracuse was only in the portal to find a backup center, and nothing else. But, then again, Boeheim commented two weeks ago that it would be almost impossible to find a center, and look what happened.
The 47th-year head coach and his staff will likely hit the recruiting trail for the 2023 and 2024 classes in June and July, while the current crop of players is working out at home and the Melo Center. Improvements are going to be needed from SU’s returnees, and freshmen will likely have to play a big role next season.
Boeheim did remark earlier this year that he expects all freshmen to play and 2-to 3 to start. That seems a little ambitious, but I would expect at least four, Mintz, Bunch, Taylor, and Brown to play at least 10 minutes a game next season.
In the end, there is not much left for Boeheim and staff to do regarding next year’s roster, but with an empty slate in the next few classes, the Orange coaches will surely get to work on the future. 2022-23 will look a lot different than last season, and hopefully, for SU fans, the results look better too.
