It’s been five years since Syracuse Men’s Basketball last reached the NCAA tournament.
Five years ago, the Orange clinched their 35th tournament appearance in 47 seasons under legendary head coach Jim Boeheim.
Before the Adrian Autry era, you would have to go back to the 1960’s to find the last time the program was absent from the tournament for five years or more.
And despite what’s shaping up to be five straight seasons of missing the NCAA tournament, SU still remains the 7th winningest program in NCAA Men’s Basketball history.
There was a standard, and Orange Standard.
But after finishing the regular season on a 5-game losing streak, ending with a sub .500 record for a second-straight season, and barely claiming a bottom seed in the ACC Tournament, head coach Adrian Autry says that standard has changed.
“The standard from what I grew up, and what I played with, that’s different now.”
Just back in 2019, the ‘Cuse set a new NCAA on-campus attendance record of over 35,000 when Duke visited the Carrier Dome. But in recent years, the dome has almost completely failed to find that vibe again. Beyond changing its name to the JMA Wireless Dome, it just hasn’t seen the energy that it used to. As a matter of fact, it’s struggling to pack the house.
All of this is to say that Syracuse Basketball is no longer what it once was. Autry’s right.
But it’s unfathomable to believe just how far Syracuse Basketball has fallen in the 2020’s. And quite frankly, it’s unacceptable.
SU is set to face SMU in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday, where they will likely go out there and show just as little effort as they have over the last month. This team has shown little-to-no life down the stretch this season and it’s clear just by watching the press conferences that they’re done. After that, the search for a new head coach will begin.
The first domino has fallen for the future of Syracuse Athletics. With new chancellor J. Michael Haynie at the helm, the program will look for a new AD who will pick the next head coach.
The decisions this new regime makes will determine whether this era will be left behind for a better future, or if John Wildhack, Adrian Autry, and others truly paved the way for the new “Orange Standard.”
The choice is theirs.
