Judah Mintz beind held out of last Friday’s exhibition contest gave Quadir Copeland a big opportunity to put hit skills on display, and boy did he ever. The Philly native tallied 12 points and 9 assists in 31 minutes off the bench. But it wasn’t just the box score test he passed, the eye test plays as well. The stance hasn’t changed since January, and now more than ever it’s true. Copeland deserves minutes.
As much as you might want it to be true, you don’t get guys who are always going to give 110%, always hustle, and bring energy at all times (even when on the bench). Copeland fits that mold. In his limited time on the sidelines last Friday, he was consistently getting hyped for his teammates, jumping up and down, and stayed locked in. That’s exactly what you want to see from everyone on the roster, whether it’s a walk-on, role player, or superstar. When your energy off the court is the same as it is on the court, that can go a long way towards improving your teammates’ play and overall morale.
Let’s not forget that in a fairly limited sample size last year, Copeland showed flashes of being a big difference maker. The Pitt game last December immediately jumps out as the now-sophomore almost singlehandedly (and unexpectedly) rallied the Orange back from a 20-point deficit. He also looked excellent in spurts on the road against Georgia Tech as well as senior day against Wake Forest (in front of the 2003 national championship team). Limited sample size? Yes. Encouraging? Without question.
Lastly, you’d be hard-pressed to find an argument that Copeland did not outplay a substantial chunk of SU’s roster against Daemen. Justin Taylor was awesome from beyond the arc, but it was all in the first half. Benny Williams had similar scoring and rebounding outputs, but Copeland did a lot more as a passer. Kyle Cuffe also posted a similar statline, but didn’t look like a threat to score from all three levels (nine of his 11 points were from distance). Finally, Chris Bell played a game we got used to last year- shoot threes and hope they go in (1-5) while not rebounding a whole lot. At the end of the day every game has its own unique statline, but Copeland outplayed his teammates that play either similar or the same position.
Quadir Copeland has put a full 94-feet game on display all while acting as a great hype guy and energy provider since he got to the hill. He’s part of Jim Boeheim’s self-proclaimed best recruiting class ever, and he was the one (with the exception of an injured Peter Carey) that didn’t get to prove why. Coach Autry, it’s time for that to change this year.
