With key players gone from last season’s team, will Syracuse Basketball be good enough for another NCAA Tournament appearance?
High expectations were set for an experienced Syracuse team fresh off a surprise Sweet 16 appearance. Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett returned for another year. Marek Dolezaj broke out as a technically sound forward. Even Frank Howard entered his senior season as the leader of the offense. It looked as if Jim Boeheim had arguably his deepest roster, especially when adding transfer sharpshooter Elijah Hughes and highly-touted guard Jalen Carey to the mix.
Quickly, however, the Orange struggled in nonconference play. They lost to Connecticut and Oregon in back-to-back games at Madison Square Garden. Old Dominion came into the Carrier Dome and shocked SU just one game removed from a Battle buzzer-beater.
A blowout loss to Buffalo meant back-to-back losses in nonconference play for the first time since 1975. The Syracuse offense sputtered more than expected. Brissett’s shooting took a dip, and the once-projected lottery pick was anything but.
Atlantic Coast Conference play offered SU an opportunity to fight its way into the NCAA Tournament. Two straight wins against lesser opponents in Notre Dame and Clemson was followed by another shocking home loss — this time to Georgia Tech.
With the season in despair, the Orange went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and upset No. 1 Duke on the road. The rest of ACC play consisted of ups and downs, with SU barely doing enough to sneak into the NCAA Tournament.
Just days before Syracuse’s matchup with Baylor, it was announced that Howard would be suspended. The point guard failed a drug test and left SU without a starter and, more importantly, a four-year veteran. The Orange’s season would end on March 21 at the hands of the Bears.
Battle and Brissett both declared for the NBA Draft shortly thereafter. Howard and Paschal Chukwu graduated. With just one starter returning — Hughes — SU will boast a young but talented roster in the 2019-20 season. Included in the mix is Top 100 recruit Brycen Goodine and highly-touted Canadian prospect Quincy Guerrier.
Can Jim Boeheim and Syracuse ride youthful explosiveness to another NCAA Tournament appearance? Without Battle or Brissett, can Hughes step up as a leader? Or will this team continue the narrative of recent years of a rollercoaster season normally ending in despair?