Jon Rothstein is one of the more respected voices in college basketball, and he has weighed in on the state of the ACC as we continue through the offseason. Rothstein ranked Syracuse as the 10th best team in the conference, but he did show some love to two SU players.
Benny Williams made his list of top 10 breakout candidates in the conference. Williams scored 7.2 points per game in 22 minutes per contest last year. There were encouraging signs toward the end of the season.
Williams scored in double figures in 10 games last year, but three of them came in his final four contests. His best game of the year came against Pitt in the third to last game of the regular season. Williams scored 24 points on 8/15 shooting with 9 rebounds. Not only was that the best game of the season, it was statistically the best of his career.
He had 18 points on 50% shooting with 11 rebounds vs Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament. That game, however, followed a performance where he did not score in the final game of the regular season against the Demon Deacons. That’s the issue with Williams. The high end games are terrific, but there are still ones where he’s invisible.
The other game in that final stretch of four games was 11 points against Georgia Tech on just seven shots. Hopefully, that was a turning point for Williams. If the good games become more consistent, he can certainly be one of the biggest risers in the conference.
JJ Starling, meanwhile, was named one of the ACC’s top 10 impact transfers. Starling averaged about 11 points per game for a Notre Dame team that was in the bottom third of the conference. He was a five star recruit in last year’s class and creates a potentially lethal backcourt duo with Judah Mintz.
247Sports ranked Starling as the fifth best transfer in the nation. He’s a perfect complement for Mintz, who will have the ball in his hands most often. Starling can play the point, but is better as a secondary ball handler while focusing on scoring.
So, while the team expectations aren’t all that high, at least according to Rothstein, there are some key pieces in place. The talent is there for this team to have success, these questions surrounding it just need to be answered in the affirmative.
