After a disappointing season, Syracuse won’t be making the trip to March Madness this year.
Don’t worry though. There are still ways to root for the Orange in the postseason, as plenty of former Syracuse players will be at March Madness with different teams.
Starting with one that might sting a little, Maliq Brown and the Duke Blue Devils are the No. 1 seed in the East region. Brown and the Blue Devils destroyed the Orange in an 83-54 blowout win in February, just one of their many impressive wins this season.
Brown may be out for the first couple rounds of March Madness after dislocating his shoulder in Duke’s quarterfinal game during the ACC tournament, but he’s still been a key piece off the bench in 23 games for the Blue Devils this year.
At Syracuse last year, Brown earned All-ACC defensive honors as a sophomore before transferring, and he earned high praise from SU’s coaching staff after stepping up to log minutes at the five.
Kadary Richmond is another former Syracuse player who will be at March Madness, with No. 2. St John’s Red Storm in the West Region. Richmond has been one of the best players for new St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, averaging 12.7 points and 6.4 rebounds while adding 2.1 steals per game.
Richmond has been excellent on the defensive side of the ball this season and is one of the 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award. At Syracuse, he played 21 minutes per game as a freshman and led the team in steals.
After Richmond is Quadir Copeland, who starred in a sixth-man role during his two seasons at Syracuse. Last year, Copeland played 22.3 minutes a game while averaging 9.6 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Copeland will be at March Madness with No. 12 McNeese State in the Midwest Region, which is a popular upset pick in this year’s bracket. He has started 22 games for the Cowboys this season and will hope to lead his team to an upset over No. 5 Clemson, the same team that former Syracuse guard Joe Girard III helped to the Elite Eight last year.
It remains to be seen whether any of these former Syracuse players will make a run with their new team, but even if they don’t, it still gives Syracuse fans a way to root for their favorite team in March.
