#parent | #kids | #schoolshooting | Rating the rookies: How much will Syracuse rely on its basketball freshmen?

Syracuse, N.Y. – After Brycen Goodine decided he would spend his college basketball career at Syracuse, he waited to see which potential high school stars would join him.

The Class of 2019 guard made his Syracuse declaration in September 2017 but never actively recruited potential teammates. (“I didn’t really know who the coaches wanted.”) But he paid attention to the process. And slowly, surely, others pledged their careers to SU. Quincy Guerrier. Joe Girard. John Bol Ajak. Jesse Edwards. The 2019 recruiting class eventually swelled to five, with enough positional flexibility to form an entire starting unit.

Once Edwards had committed last April, Goodine initiated a group chat between the soon-to-be freshmen. He and Girard met during previous summer EYBL sessions and shared a hotel room at the 2019 Final Four, where each participated in a skills competition. But soon, the entire Syracuse class would converse from their respective spots on the globe.

“We started talking early,” Goodine said.

“We literally talked about anything,” Girard said. “It wasn’t just basketball. Whatever was going on, wherever people were at, we were talking. It was mostly on Snapchat, just sending pictures. It was nothing specific, but it was each and every day.”

Those conversations continued once the group gathered at the Melo Center last summer to begin workouts. They stretched to Italy, where they would first pull on Syracuse jerseys and represent the school. As the weeks progressed, the young players incorporated talks and observations of older Orange teammates, with whom they had grown close.

The freshmen say they’ve leaned on SU’s upperclassmen to explain the occasional confusion. The Orange counts three juniors (and no recruited seniors) on its roster. Elijah Hughes, Marek Dolezaj and Bourama Sidibe have taken time to explain or enhance what the freshmen were hearing from the coaching staff. Those interactions helped.

“Usually I’ll just watch the older guys and pick up on what they’re doing,” Goodine said. “All of the upperclassmen know the system, so I feel like I can go to anyone on the team. And they’re really willing to help us out. That’s why I think we’ve gotten a lot better since the summer. We make each other better.”

Jim Boeheim emphasized during SU’s media day that his freshman quintet was better than nationally advertised. Goodine, the combo guard turned point guard, was the highest-ranked recruit. ESPN considered him, Girard and Ajak as four-star prospects. Edwards, a native of the Netherlands who played in the United States for a few months, was rated a 3-star big man. Guerrier, hidden away in tiny Thetford Mines, Quebec, was not ranked at all by ESPN.

His relative invisibility ensures that Guerrier, the 6-foot-7 forward, will be the biggest national surprise. But Boeheim believes potential awaits in each member of his 2019 class.

“Any of these young guys could step in and do something,” Boeheim said. “You really don’t know until you get closer to game time. They’re all capable, very capable players. The freshmen are much better than their rankings. We really know from past experience with our players, the ranking doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t reflect how good a player can be. We’ve had guys not ranked in the top 100 be very productive players as freshmen, and this group is like that. It’s a very good group, very solid.”

Which freshmen will play? How much will the Orange rely on its rookie roster this season? The only player assured of 35-plus minutes a game is Hughes, whom Boeheim anointed his 2019-20 centerpiece. The rest of the minutes will be distributed on a per game, per effectiveness basis, Boeheim suggested. Most of these young guys figure to get consideration at rotational minutes, though the center situation is currently clogged with multiple possibilities.

Boeheim said the freshman group’s maturation and productivity will “be important for the overall success of what we do this year.” How those players progress from early November to early March will be fascinating to observe.

“With so many new guys and guys in completely new roles,” Boeheim said, “it’s important for this team to start out playing as well as we can and then to get better. When you have a lot of veterans, they’re going to start out pretty good, but there might not be as much upside for that team. With so many new guys, I think there’s a little more upside going forward.”

With that said, here’s a quick breakdown of the new Syracuse players:

Brycen Goodine, 6-3, 183, New Bedford, Mass.

Goodine moved from shooting guard to point guard his last couple seasons at St. Andrew’s and is still working on feel from the difficult point guard position. He’s longer than his height suggests. He’s an explosive dunker. He was a confident and aggressive scorer in Italy. And lately, his long-distance jump shot looks like a growing attribute. He won the 3-point shooting contest at SU’s Orange-White scrimmage, making 12-of-15 that night. His ability to stretch defenses with his perimeter shooting differentiates him from Jalen Carey, who is a better slasher and possibly a better mid-range scorer at this point. Goodine added some weight to his slight frame, which will help him convert near the rim.

Quincy Guerrier, 6-7, 220, Montreal, Quebec

Guerrier was an absolute mystery to most recruiting sites. He moved from Montreal to remote Thetford Mines to concentrate on basketball and books and did not play high school games his final year there. His physical size at the wing is imposing. So is his relentless intensity. Even in practice drills, he is a full steam of fierce movement. Guerrier physically dominated in Italy, but the thing that will move the needle for him is his 3-point shooting touch. Teams will have to guard him from the perimeter and reports from practice indicate he’s making more of those shots than he’s missing. He has all the tools to construct an impressive freshman season.

Joe Girard, 6-1, 181, Glens Falls, NY

If you didn’t know who Girard was when he announced he would attend SU, you just weren’t paying attention. He was the most celebrated scorer in New York State his senior season. His ability to drop 3-point shots is obviously part of his allure. But Girard is a tough kid, a perennial winner who is not unlike the Syracuse assistant coach – Gerry McNamara — who recruited him and now coaches him. In Italy, he rebounded, a sorely needed attribute from the guard spots. And for all of his scoring acumen, he is an underrated, willing and creative passer.

Jon Bol Ajak, 6-10, 215, Natinga, South Sudan

Ajak is probably the most difficult freshman to evaluate, mostly because he stayed in Syracuse while his teammates played in Italy last summer. Visa issues prevented him from making the trip and cheated Orange fans from seeing him play. He runs the floor well. He has a nice shooting touch. He weighs 215 pounds, but looks more sculpted and perhaps a bit stronger than most freshmen big men. He said he has concentrated this preseason on setting screens and grabbing rebounds – two things Syracuse will require of him. But right now, he’s the most mysterious man on the Orange roster.

Jesse Edwards, 6-11, 215, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Edwards has the potential to be a very good college big man. He has beautiful shooting mechanics and lofts the ball with feathery touch. For that reason, he should be a solid free-throw shooter, something Syracuse has generally lacked from the center position. He moves well. His footwork is solid. He knows how to run the pick and roll. He seems fundamentally sound. The thing that will haunt him this season is his lack of physical strength and his adaptation to the increased speed of the game.