Yesterday we asked: what would a new AD and likely new coach see when they evaluated Syracuse basketball against No. 16 UNC?
I was there. Lower bowl. Open end. Football field behind us.
Here’s the honest answer: they’d see a fanbase that’s still alive — but exhausted.
Attendance was announced at 23,000. And for once, the number didn’t feel inflated. It wasn’t the vintage 28,000–30,000 monster crowds that once defined this building. There were scattered empties. Some late arrivals filtering into the lower bowl. Maybe 2,000–3,000 UNC fans sprinkled in.
But mostly? Orange.
Twenty-three thousand people for a 15–13 team in late February. That is a massive number in modern college basketball. Most programs in America can’t fathom that. Parking is always a hassle up on the Hill, especially with all the construction around campus. It’s winter in Syracuse. The season has been a slog. And yet 23,000 showed up to watch Syracuse Orange men’s basketball host North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball on ABC.
That matters.
The new AD needs to have a bigger vision. The next head coach needs to be able to grab the fan base, something the even-keeled Adrian Autry often fails to do. Syracuse can often operate as a middle-tier school instead of having big dreams. Who is going to reenergize this community?
By 10:30 a.m., fans were already filing into the Shine Student Center. This was the marquee home game — the one many probably circled when they bought tickets months ago. A 1 p.m. Saturday tip against a blue blood with Final Four aspirations on national TV.
The energy, though, was muted.
Syracuse kept it close early. But the game itself was clunky. Little flow. Lots of staggered possessions. UNC eventually pulled away 77–64 — and did it without its best player, Caleb Wilson. North Carolina shot 52% from the floor. Syracuse shot 42% and went 3-for-17 from three. Another offensive frustration in a season full of them.
The Dome never truly ignited.
There was grumbling in my section — mostly about officiating. Some about coaching. Some about players. But what was missing was that old snarl. That “you don’t come in here and win” pulse.
Instead, it felt like a crowd that loves college basketball… but has been beaten down.
Syracuse drops to 15-13. UNC improves to 21-6. On paper, it’s another loss in a fading season.
But if I’m the incoming successor to John Wildhack — and if I’m a coaching candidate evaluating this job — I don’t see a graveyard.
I see 23,000 reasons to believe.
The legacy is still there. The audience is still there. The habit of showing up is still there. There are 40 years of this being a college basketball hot bed.
What’s missing is hope.
Restore belief. Modernize the approach. Inject urgency and identity back into the program.
Because Saturday proved something important:
The fanbase hasn’t left.
It’s just waiting for a reason to roar again.
