Syracuse Men’s Basketball, to get back into any form of an ACC contender, NEEDS to score more in 2025-26. The Orange have had plenty of new additions who can score next season, plus some freshmen who seem to be bonafide offensive options.
But SU would be surely mistaken to change it’s go-to option from this year.
In a year where everything went wrong for Syracuse, pretty much the only bright spot was the play of JJ Starling. The junior showed he could drive, could shoot, could lead and did it all while having nearly a month off with injury.
JJ Starling was the heart of this offense this year, and it would be a horrible idea for Syracuse to switch that up now.
Just think about how much better Starling could be in this year’s option. The guard started last year in the #2 role where he has flourished since high school. Then Jaquan Carlos struggled a lot. And the rest of the season Starling basically had to play that hybrid 1-2 role.
But now, alast, Starling has a PG that he can seemingly trust in Naithan George, who really loves to assist the ball. A lot of those assists should be going to Starling, who with more open space on the court will likely see his shot numbers (and makes) BALLOON. It’s not crazy to say that Starling could be a 20 point per game scorer next season.
Not to mention, the fact that SU has more scoring option is big for Starling’s prospects. He won’t have to always play hero ball and can focus on making smarter plays.
Of course, there are still of ton of factors to go until we see what Starling’s role actually would be. But SU has a great top option. They shouldn’t waste it.
