Heading into the first season of the Adrian Autry era at Syracuse, there are a decent number of changes with the roster, but none that shook the foundation and caused major concern. Jesse Edwards leaving for West Virginia for NIL reasons was the biggest loss, but the Orange snagged Naheem McLeod from Florida State out of the portal to fill that void.
But, the leaders of Syracuse in 2023-24 will come from the guard position, and the guys that will play the majority of the minutes are Judah Mintz and J.J. Starling. Both were highly touted prospects in the class of 2022, and Mintz had an outstanding freshman season at SU before taking his name out of the NBA Draft at the last minute. Starling attended Notre Dame and entered the transfer portal after the season with the coaching change that occurred in South Bend. Both are poised to take steps forward individually and within the team and lead Syracuse back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
“I mean the goal wasn’t to come here and not make a tournament,’’ Mintz told syracuse.com. “I don’t want to get out of here without being in the Big Dance and making some noise. So that’s our goal.’’
Mintz was at his best in the open floor last season, pushing the ball up the court and finishing in transition or drawing contact. That compliments Starling very well, who can take some ball-handling duties away from Mintz and lead the offense at times according to Autry.
“He’s really good with the ball,” Autry said to syracuse.com. “His passing, I think, was always underrated. And he has a very high IQ. We have a lot of talent on this team and he can still impact the game, impact the scrimmages, impact the practices sometimes without even scoring a basket.”
But, the key point against both of these guards was their shooting last season, as Mintz shot just over 30% from beyond the arc and Starling shot just under 30%. To complement each other, both will have to be more effective from three-point range this season to help the Orange spread the floor and not condense the paint. It helps to have shooters on the outside like Chris Bell and Justin Taylor who can knock down shots, but if everyone on the floor is a threat, that makes a huge difference.
“I feel amazing right now,” Starling said to syracuse.com. “I’m still working out some kinks, especially when it comes to my shot, just getting that more consistent. But other than that, I feel like I’m in a really good mental space right now, which is essential to succeed in this program. I love my teammates, I love my coaches, I love what I’m doing on a daily basis. I’m trying to get better. I just want to keep that up.”
Starling and Mintz worked hard all summer, including attending multiple pro-level camps to compete against some of the other best players in the country to help the Orange attempt to take that next step this year after the failures of 2022-23.
“I don’t think it was a bad season,’’ Mintz said to syracuse.com. “I would say it was bad for Syracuse standards, but for what we came in with and how we ended, I think it was a good stepping-stone for these upcoming years for the whole program.’’
