Author: Damon Amendolara
-
Why Garrett Shrader’s success could change SU football
Don’t look now but Pro Football Focus’ team graded Garrett Shrader as the highest rated QB of the week after the beat down of UConn. He was PFF’s offensive player of the week for his 5 TD day. They noted his 94.5 overall grade because of a perfect 16/16 when there was no pressure, and…
-
Why did Zion Cruz – Jersey kid and top-50 recruit – choose DePaul?
The recruitment of Jersey City’s Zion Cruz was always a mysterious one. As the rest of the ’22 Class committed around him, Cruz was the outlier, remaining untethered. As of December, he was one of only 3 in the top 30 who hadn’t chosen a school yet. It would still be another two months, in…
-
Is Dino Babers Already Off the Hot Seat?
It’s been a fun start to the season for Syracuse. A surprising demolition of Louisville at the Dome, and a (suddenly) predictable blowout of pathetic UConn makes the Orange 2-0. SU will garner even more votes for the Top 25, and will find itself with optimism and some shock around the nation that the program…
-
Should Syracuse Stop the Charade and Run the Option?
Central New York’s worst kept secret is that the Syracuse offense is ugly. When SU needed one win in its final three games to become bowl eligible it scored a total of 34 points in a string of blowout losses. This is a massive concern because the head coach supposedly is a top-level offensive mind,…
-
Is Syracuse Too Cheap to Fire Babers?
The short answer is yes. Look around and you see examples of how Syracuse athletics needs to constantly shop on the discount racks. “Jim Boeheim makes a plea to Syracuse fans to step up their NIL donation game” is a headline that blared at the Post-Standard’s website last week. Obviously, legendary coaches at larger, more…
-
Rising Guard Elijah Gertrude is Major Piece in Syracuse’s Recruiting Wars
Elijah Gertrude is on Syracuse’s turf. He’s a star on the Albany City Rocks AAU team. He’s a dynamic playmaker for Jersey City-based Hudson Catholic. And he’s being recruited by a slew of SU’s most important recruiting rivals. This one is a big one for the Orange, and Jim Boeheim knows it. At Peach Jam,…
-
Bad News for Syracuse, Big Ten is Not Considering the Orange
The conference realignment murmurs have grown into flat out paranoia (“a mass exodus”) in many circles, as programs wonder what their future is. At stake, a spot with the “have’s” at the college football table, a place where dishes are passed around with $75M checks under them. Syracuse’s ACC revenue is significant, and many could…
-
One CFB Analyst Predicts “Mass Exodus” from ACC in Realignment
It’s been nearly a month since the dominos fell with USC and UCLA headed to the Big Ten. Since, everyone has braced for the next set of schools to fall. Is it Oregon and Washington? Will the Big 12 and Pac-12 eventually merge (right now the answer is no)? So far, it’s been quiet. And…
-
UCLA and USC Just Signaled the Death of the Power Five
While college athletics has been a mutating industry since its dawn (Alabama was once in the SoCon), our current iteration is now dead. The concept of a Power 5 is no longer after USC and UCLA’s decision to flee to the Big Ten. Perhaps that’s for the best since the idea of enough elite football…
-
Did Syracuse Strategically Ask For Florida State as a Rival?
The ACC did something extremely smart. It ripped up the old two division format, and created a 3-5-5 scheduling system for football. Instead of a winner coming from the Atlantic and Coastal to meet in the ACC Championship Game, the two best teams in the league will clash. To schedule a one-division league, each team…
-
Syracuse Needs 5-Star Ian Jackson to Bring the NYC Swagger Back
The move to the ACC will always be a tortured one for Syracuse fans. Of course, everyone realizes the survival of the program as a Power 5 football school meant it was a necessity. Had the Orange not jumped ship to the ACC it would have been left for dead like UConn, scrambling for a…
-
Can Boeheim’s Successor Tap Into The Overflowing Jersey Pipeline?
The New York Times ran a piece Tuesday about the incredible basketball talent pumping out of the Garden State. The story, “‚ÄòJersey Is Taking Over‚Äô: N.J. Hoopers Outshine the Shadow of New York,” highlights all of the top-end recruits playing in New Jersey. “In addition to (Elliott) Cadeau ‚Äî the No. 7 player in the…
-
Buyers Beware on Emoni Bates Transfer and His Dad’s Overreach
Back in February we analyzed the bizarre downturn of Emoni Bates. One of the most hyped prep stars in 20 years was a sore spot for Memphis, and would need another rehab assignment before entering the NBA Draft. The Tigers finished strong with a run to the American title game and a win in the…
-
New Syracuse QB Del Rio-Wilson Called “First Class” By SEC Coach
Quarterback has been a source of angst for SU fans for years. As the Orange have struggled to get their footing for the last three years, the play under center has been the biggest inconsistency. Garrett Shrader showed promise at times last season, but the transfer of Carlos Del Rio-Wilson certainly makes things more interesting.…
-
Judah Mintz’s Commitment Helps Boeheim Leave SU on Higher Ground
Jim Boeheim is crusty and cranky. He scoffs at your criticisms, he belittles the critics. He has run Syracuse basketball’s kingdom for nearly 50 years, and he will remind you of it every chance he gets. Boeheim’s record is impregnable. His status as an icon is unmovable. But his effectiveness has seemed to wear thin…
-
Syracuse’s Blowout Loss to Duke is the Final Humiliation for a Limping Program
The season from hell walked right up to the Gates of Hades and asked the Devil to punch it in the face. The Devil, smiling in his red cape and holding that flaming pitchfork, obliged. He looks an awful lot like that Duke mascot, to be honest. Syracuse’s ever-collapsing ’21-’22 continued to splinter with an…
-
Did Emoni Bates’ Dad Sink the Best Prep Star of the Decade?
There is no debate that Emoni Bates’ much-anticipated college career has been wildly underwhelming. The prep star with an SI cover story at just 15-years old is now just a bystander as Memphis has turned around its season without him. Bates has a supposed back issue that has kept him out of the lineup (or…
-
Chris Bunch Skyrockets Up Recruit Rankings, Insiders See Star
It’s hard to jump from a top 200 recruit to a top 100. It’s even harder to jump from unranked to top 60, but that’s exactly what has happened to Syracuse commit Chris Bunch. While this season has proven painful for plenty of SU fans, next year’s class provides the hope of renewed excellence. The…
-
Did Syracuse’s Win over NC State Recharge the Offense?
We know Syracuse’s defense is a problem, and one that won’t be fixed this season. We’re into February, just a month away from the ACC Tournament, and the zone is what the zone is. Unfortunately, it’s filled with guys who aren’t fast enough to their spots, nor rangy enough to play great defense once they…
-
Gottlieb says Boeheim Should Retire and Rivals Recruit Against “Daddy Ball”
This has gotten ugly for Syracuse hoops. The season is skidding off the road, and out of the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse fans have started grumbling about when Jim Boeheim might finally call it quits. And Doug Gottlieb says rivals are using Boeheim against him on the recruiting trail. In a Field of 68 Podcast longtime…
-
Why New WR Coach Michael Johnson Is a Key Addition for SU
Tuesday morning CFB Insider Pete Thamel tweeted Syracuse had added FAU’s Michael Johnson to its coaching staff. Even though some may overlook the importance of a positional coach, Orange fans should pay attention to this. Johnson has experience as a hungry recruiter at bigger programs, and as an offensive coordinator in the NFL. This is…
-
Jackpot! How did Syracuse Beat Bama and Others to Francois Nolton?
It’s enough to make you refresh the page and make sure you’re not misreading the headline. “Syracuse beats Alabama for 4-star lineman Francois Nolton.” That level of talent rarely comes through SU, but more than that, almost never beats powers like Alabama, LSU, Penn State and A&M to a recruit. All of those schools, among…
-
Syracuse Rips Brown 93-62 in First Game Back, Climbs Back Over .500
The last time we saw Syracuse on the court was more than two weeks ago against Georgetown, the disappointing 79-75 loss. So the Orange ripping up Brown 93-62 was an encouraging sign, pushing SU above .500 again at 6-5. The Bears aren’t a pushover Ivy League team, with a few tight losses to high major…
-
The Strange Saga of Zion Cruz is the Last Big Mystery in the Class of ’22
Appropriately, Zion Cruz is the last great mystery for the Class of ’22. For months we’ve documented the many twists and turns of his recruitment. Syracuse was high on him early, and he seemed like the perfect Orange point guard. He’s a gritty floor general with the flare for the dramatic who was born and…
-
Claw Marks: Villanova Runs Away from Syracuse in 2nd Half at MSG
Long range shooting and dominance on the glass were the ingredients in a Villanova win over Syracuse at MSG 67-53. All was well in the first half, as SU harassed the Wildcats into poor shooting and the Orange held a 29-26 lead at the break. But Nova went white hot in the second half, shooting…
-
Will Syracuse Ever Dig Out of the Recruiting Basement with Babers?
Syracuse announced Dino Babers is staying as coach for another year, and the news wasn’t all that surprising. Despite the depressing three-game skid to end the season, the Orange being 5-4 seemed to lock in Babers for ’22. The improvement from last season was obvious, and with a few minor strokes of luck the Orange…
-
Anatomy of a Disaster: How in the World Did Syracuse Lose to Colgate?
Fifty-four games. Fifty-nine freaking years. That’s how long the winning streak had been over Colgate. Last night, it went up in a puff of dust like LeBron James clapping at the scorer’s table. How could something like that happen, especially with one of the better teams Syracuse has seemingly had in years? Start off with…
-
Could Jim Mora at UConn Hurt Syracuse Recruiting?
UConn is still laboring on the hamster wheel of college football, insisting it will get somewhere despite running in place for so long. The latest swing is the hire of Jim Mora Jr., who spent 6 seasons at UCLA going 46-30, and 29-24 in the Pac-12. In his first four seasons with the Bruins he…
-
Blowout Babers: Why Does Dino Get Routed So Often?
It was all ugly on Saturday for Syracuse. The Orange need just a single win over the last three weeks of the season, but the best chance perhaps to get a victory went up in smoke at Louisville 41-3. Malik Cunningham was a knife cutting through a solid SU defense, combining for 5 TDs on…
-
Did Syracuse Go All-In for the Class of ’22 Because It’s Boeheim’s Finale?
The Class of ’22 is historic for Syracuse, not only in its size but also its national ranking. Jim Boeheim suggested it could be perhaps his best class ever, and its currently 14th overall and 4th in the ACC according to 247 Sports. Other places have them rated close to the top 10. Most of…
-
Syracuse projected to inaugural Fenway Bowl vs. UCF
At 5-4, Syracuse’s season has been a thousand times better than most could have imagined. Coming off the disastrous 1-win campaign last year, not much was expected of this year’s squad. Yet, with three games to go, the Orange are one win away from a likely bowl game. None of the three games will be…
-
Can the Class of ’22 Bring an ACC Title to the Carrier Dome?
Chris Bunch is bring optimism to Syracuse hoops. The recent commit told Mike McAllister he believes the incoming talent is enough to win the ACC next year. “I think we can really be the best team in the ACC if I’m being perfectly honest. I never really believed in the blue bloods or all that…
-
When exactly did Syracuse lose 4-star Chance Westry?
Once upon a time Syracuse was a legitimate threat to land Chance Westry. The highly-touted 4-star prospect from Harrisburg, PA chose Auburn on Sunday, and the Orange seemed to be out of sight, out of mind. Westry is ranked 39th overall by 247Sports and 31st in the composite ranking. He becomes the 4th highest rated…
-
Syracuse Recruiting Proving It’s Scouting Is Excellent
Plenty of high school studs never pan out as college stars. Projecting how a 17 or 18-year-old will compete against his peers at the next level can be a crap shoot. Players need the right fit, and are adjusting to life away from home for the first time in many cases. (Although that is fading…
-
The Boeheim Bunch: Where Does Syracuse’s Class Rank After Big Commitment?
Chris Bunch rounded out an amazing recruiting class for Syracuse when he committed on Thursday. The Orange now have elite talent at every position on the floor coming in next season (assuming they all sign their LOIs). With the addition of Bunch, Syracuse’s class is now a top 10 group. 247 Sports jumped them to…
-
Crystal Ball Prediction for 4-Star Chris Bunch
In just a few hours 4-star wing Chris Bunch will choose between Syracuse, Washington and Rutgers. The Orange would round out an impressive Class of ’22 if Bunch joins. They already have a quartet of talent coming in, with the last open position in the starting five coming at SF. Point Quadir Copeland, shooting guard…
Latest News
You May Have Missed
