Author: Ian Unsworth
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Can SU Land a Big Fish (or More Accurately, a Big Man) in the Portal?
It feels like we say this every year, but here we go again. Syracuse is vulnerable inside. Backup center Frank Anselem is in the transfer portal, and starting big Jesse Edwards is coming off of a wrist injury. The Dutchman showed leaps and bounds of improvement last season, but didn’t really remedy his penchant for…
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Three Questions for SU Football after the Spring Game
The Syracuse football spring game has come and gone. While last week’s preview of a new offense and a strong bunch of returners on the defensive side gave the Fizz plenty of positive takeaways, there are still some questions we need answered about Syracuse football. Does Garrett Shrader Work in the Robert Anae Offense? Shrader…
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How Should Jim Boeheim Retire?
Before anyone gets uppity, this is not a “fire Jim Boeheim” hit piece. We all know he’s got at least one more year left in him. However, different coaches see things in different ways. As do the athletic departments, players and communities that revolve around their actions. Coach Boeheim apparently has a succession plan in…
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Four-Star Guard Judah Mintz Commits to Syracuse, Taking Class of 2022 to Another Level
Syracuse’s Class of 2022 has already been called Jim Boeheim’s best ever. Now it’s surely in rare air. Judah Mintz, the 53rd best prospect in this year’s crop by 247sports, just announced his commitment to Syracuse. Mintz, a four-star combo guard, is rated as the ninth best prospect at his position. He was previously committed…
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Three Things to Watch in SU’s Spring Game: Offense
It may not seem like spring in Central New York, but the calendar does not lie. Syracuse football’s spring practices are in full swing, and the Orange have the chance to showcase their skills in front of the fanbase this Friday, April 1, in the first Orange and Blue game since 2019 (tune into ACCN…
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Former SU Targets Show Out during March Madness
It’s no secret Syracuse has struggled to hit it big in the recruiting world. Over the past couple of years, high-level prospects have constantly considered coming to the Hill, but SU hasn’t been able to seal the deal with any top recruits besides Benny Williams. While Williams struggled and fumbled his way through his freshman…
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What is Syracuse’s Biggest Need in the Class of 2023?
Syracuse’s class of 2022 is already regarded as one of the best Jim Boeheim’s ever had. And it could get even better. However, the five-player group is entering a very thin roster. SU is going to need plenty of production from its freshmen, enough that Boeheim has already admitted one or two could play their…
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Super Shorthanded Syracuse Ends Season with Valiant 88-79 Loss to Duke
No Jesse Edwards. No Benny Williams. And the worst of it all, no Buddy Boeheim, suspended for one game after the ACC ruled he punched Florida State’s Wyatt Wilkes in the gut yesterday. All odds were stacked against nine-seed Syracuse heading into Thursday’s matchup with top-seed Duke. With all the hurdles to overcome, it would’ve…
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Three Keys for Syracuse to End the Regular Season on a High Note
Look, it’s no secret this season has been a rough one for Syracuse hoops. The Orange have floundered left and right, dropping the biggest game of the year by almost 30 points, losing multiple conference clunkers and playing themselves out of tournament contention. Jim Boeheim had to announce his plans yesterday, as the haters and…
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Syracuse Can’t Sustain Hot Shooting, Falls to Virginia Tech 71-59
There’s an old saying: you can’t get hot if you don’t know the cold. On Saturday in Blacksburg, Syracuse finally snapped out of its unconscious midseason run, and the four-game ACC win streak was snapped at the hands of the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Syracuse offense was bound to slow down after losing starting center…
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Second-Half Synergy, Big Time Swider: SU’s Formula is Starting to Emerge
Syracuse has now won two straight(!) conference games, against Wake Forest, and Wednesday night over NC State. Both came with massive scoring outputs after some anemic offensive performances from the “best shooting team” Jim Boeheim has ever seen. The Orange are in desperate need of big-time wins to climb their way back into the tournament…
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Taj Harris Chooses a Transfer Destination (Again)
Former Syracuse wide receiver Taj Harris left the Orange midway through the 2021 season, redshirting and entering the transfer portal. After an initial pledge to Kentucky which didn‚Äôt stick, the rising senior has now committed to Rutgers. Harris is already enrolled in the Rutgers student directory, and is taking classes this semester for a degree…
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Syracuse’s Loss to Duke Was Predictable Long Before Tip
In a year where the ACC is down, and Syracuse is struggling to stay at .500, a win over sixth-ranked Duke would’ve been a shot to the arm of a team that desperately needed some sort of motivation. Instead, the Orange looked undersized and underprepared against a team missing one of its best scorers. A…
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Why Isn’t Benny Williams Playing?
A game after making his first career three in a Syracuse uniform, Benny Williams recorded a career high 24 minutes against Wake Forest. There were small developments made contest by contest that led SU fans to believe the former four-star recruit had a real chance at becoming a difference maker by season’s end. However, that…
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Fizz Report Card: Wake Forest 77, Syracuse 74
Conference meltdown after conference meltdown. Syracuse snuck under .500 today with a disheartening loss in overtime to Wake Forest. The game was a seesaw affair which turned in the Demon Deacon’s direction after Jesse Edwards fouled out midway through the second half. The Orange made a push down the stretch and actually had a two-point…
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A Step Back: How “Bad” is the ACC?
Let’s not sugar coat things. Everywhere you look, every game you watch and every show you listen to is telling you the ACC is having a “down year.” Usually, this is a narrative formed after a couple of bad non-conference losses from the higher-powered teams, and it sticks around until March. It happened in 2021…
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Boeheim Brothers Not Enough as Syracuse Falls 74-69 to Virginia
ACC play revolves around team cohesion. Usually when Buddy Boeheim drops 27 points and makes five threes, you’d think Syracuse has a pretty solid chance to win. If Jimmy Boeheim also pitches in 18, you figure SU should be cruising to at least 75 points. However, the questions around SU’s ability to succeed in conference…
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Grading Syracuse Through the Non-Conference Slate
After a 80-68 win over Cornell which was a bit scarier than most Syracuse fans would’ve liked, the Orange have completed the non-conference portion of their schedule. SU is now looking forward to conference play, beginning with Virginia on New Year’s Day. However, it’s time for the Fizz to look back at the non-conference, and…
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Ivy Insights: Numbers to Note for SU’s Upcoming Matchups
Syracuse’s schedule has been through a lot of shuffling. After initial contests against Lehigh and Cornell were canceled, SU picked up a game against Brown. Then, the Georgia Tech game on Wednesday was postponed, and Cornell filled back into the December 29th slot. So the Orange are going against back to back Ivy schools this…
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Three Reasons Why 5-7 Syracuse Shouldn’t Play in a Bowl Game
For some reason (a word that starts with m and ends with -oney, which already runs intercollegiate athletics), the college football powers that be are letting 5-7 teams into bowl games this year instead of canceling them all together. Texas A&M had to withdraw from the Gator Bowl because of a COVID outbreak within the…
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Syracuse Special Teams Trending in the Right Direction
Syracuse just received its 15th commitment in the class of 2022, getting a pledge from Maryland native and “4.5 star” long snapper Ethan Stangle. There is no doubt Stangle’s commitment was purely the work of new SU special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky. Yes, this is a long snapper. But this is one of a few…
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Syracuse Needs to Capitalize at IMG Academy
Everyone in the Salt City was thrilled when Justin Taylor committed to Syracuse. Taylor, a four-star guard in the class of 2022, chose the Orange over Virginia, the school located right in his backyard. About a month and a half later, Quadir Copeland became SU’s second (technically third at that point) pledge. Taylor and Copeland…
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Syracuse’s Class of 2022 Early Signing Day Offensive Commits
Dino Babers‚Äôs class of 2022 is scant. While yes, this is the early signing period, and the Orange could potentially grab players out of the transfer portal, the 70th-best class in the nation doesn‚Äôt appear to be bringing a ton of firepower to the 315, especially on the offensive end. SU only has four players…
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Is the 1-3-1 Here to Stay?
Jim Boeheim began using the 1-3-1 zone against Indiana, and although the Hoosiers scored 110 points, the 1-3-1 caused Indiana some problems in the first half. The Hoosiers shot just 35% from the field in the first 20 minutes, and didn’t have much of a clue as to how to solve the new SU alignment.…
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Three Takeaways from Syracuse’s 79-75 Loss to Georgetown
Once again, Syracuse managed to fumble away a victory. The Orange went to the half against their old Big East rivals (on the road, one might add) up 10, and then completely blew it in the second half. It was not pretty. Nobody wants to dwell on this any more than necessary. Let’s get straight…
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Three Position Groups SU Should Fill In the Transfer Portal
Syracuse head coach Dino Babers described the 2021 season as a “year of change,” and while the Disney metaphor-spouting eternal optimist is still leading the Orange after a disappointing end to the season, many other pieces to the puzzle are shifting. Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Sterlin Gilbert, defensive line coach Vinson Reynolds and tight ends coach…
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Pitt Slices Orange’s Bowl Hopes in 31-14 Season Finale
The families began to file out with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. What started as a trickle of fans leaving the Dome turned into a tsunami, as Syracuse‚Äôs quest for its first bowl game in three years came to a sad conclusion. The Orange fell to Pitt 31-14 Saturday night, cementing Dino Babers‚Äôs…
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Syracuse Bounced out of the Bahamas 89-68 by Auburn
It‚Äôs going to be a rough plane ride back to the 315 for Syracuse. Number 19 Auburn steamrolled Syracuse, dominating from about the halfway point of the first half to the final buzzer.¬† Auburn got a couple of lucky shots (some wild 3s, to be exact) to break the game open, and those shots got…
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Three Key Takeaways from Syracuse’s Bounce-Back 92-84 Thanksgiving Win over Arizona State
After yesterday‚Äôs disastrous performance against VCU, one would‚Äôve figured Syracuse was destined to go 0-3 in the Battle 4 Atlantis. However, the Orange got the right side of the wishbone on Thanksgiving, handling Arizona State from start to finish. The game began as SU‚Äôs contests typically do. The Boeheim brothers came out gunning, scoring 9…
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Is Mike Hopkins on the Hot Seat at Washington?
Ten years ago, Syracuse fans would’ve bet the house that Mike Hopkins would ascend through the ranks and take over as Jim Boeheim’s successor. Even four years ago, when Hopkins took a wild left turn and swapped coasts to coach at Washington, some still had the expectation the former SU guard would return to his…
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What is SU’s Ceiling without Bourama Sidibe?
Although Halloween isn‚Äôt until Sunday, things got scary yesterday for Syracuse in its season-opening scrimmage against Pace. It was announced pregame super senior Bourama Sidibe is going to miss at least a month dealing with yet another injury, this one to his other knee. To make matters worse, Buddy Boeheim sprained his ankle during the…
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Fantastic Five: Syracuse Caps Off 2022 Recruiting Class With Chris Bunch
Syracuse might have put the cherry on top of a program-changing class. Chris Bunch, a four-star forward from Wasatch Academy, just chose the Orange over Washington and Rutgers. Bunch is rated as the 72nd-best player in the class of 2022 by 247sports.com, the third best player in Utah and a consensus four-star across all recruiting…
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Is Syracuse One of the Worst Jobs in the FBS?
It doesn‚Äôt seem like anyone in Central New York, or in the college football landscape for that matter, is satisfied with how Dino Babers has handled the last two weeks. However, others see him as an embattled figure, handling what is one of the toughest coaching gigs in college football. The Athletic ranked the toughest…
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How Does SU Wipe Out Wake Forest?
Syracuse is set up for an exciting matchup this weekend. Nineteenth-ranked Wake Forest (5-0, 3-0 ACC), the only remaining ACC undefeated, comes to the Dome on parents’ weekend. It’s a nationally televised game, the Loud House should be packed and hopefully all of the 315 is ready to support Dino Babers and crew. However, it’s…
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Florida State is Falling Apart… So How Does FSU Get Top Prospects?
Florida State is a program in a massive tailspin. Some would even say the Seminoles hit rock bottom three weeks ago with a loss to FCS Jacksonville State. What was at one time a program that ruled the national scope of college football, an ACC powerhouse that was in National Championship contention. “We were Clemson…
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Liberty’s X-Factor Isn’t Who You Think…
Liberty’s X-Factor isn’t its quarterback, Malik Willis, who is a projected first-round pick and by all means the best player on the team. It isn’t Joshua Mack, a Central New York native and multi-year starter. It’s not leading receiver Demario Davis or sack leader Kendy Charles. It’s the Flames third-string running back. *Record Scratch* Yeah,…
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