NCAA Basketball: Ranking of top 25 team backcourts for 2023-24 season

17. Syracuse Orange

It’s not just hall-of-fame head coach Jim Boeheim who’s gone for the Orange, as some key guards have transferred out. Besides Symir Torrence, Joe Girard transferred out to ACC peer, Clemson. He led the team with 16.4 ppg, along with 3.0 apg. It was expected that star freshman Judah Mintz was going to go pro but he made the surprising decision to stay, instantly giving them a quality backcourt for this season.

Mintz averaged 16.3 ppg and 4.6 apg as a freshman, including 10 games of at least 20 points. He also went for 16 points, 10 assists, and five steals in a win over Georgetown. If he improves his three-point shot look for him to have All-American potential.

Also joining the team is JJ Starling, a former top-30 prospect and transfer from Notre Dame. He averaged 11.2 ppg as a freshman, including a trio of 20+ point efforts. Starling is going to be a breakout candidate to watch and with Quadir Copeland and Kyle Cuffe on the roster, there’s a good amount of depth to work with, even if Auburn transfer Chance Westry is out for a while.

The overall youth of the Orange and having a first-year head coach (Adrian Autry) creates a lot of potential outcomes for this team as a whole. Still, the potential with Mintz and Starling along gives them a chance to move up the ladder in the ACC.