Boeheim bleeds Orange as he used to play guard for this team.  He is a master recruiter and the talent he is bringing to the Hill continuously gets better and better.  Of course that ability to recruit has increased exponentially since the Orange moved from Manley to the Carrier Dome and of course the big move of joining the Big East and all that TV exposure.  The Orange came in with high expectations in the tough Big East as one of the preseason favorites.  The Orange are not quite as experienced as some other programs but their talent level, depth and symmetry are as good as anyone’s in this league and possibly on the East Coast. 

Leading the way this season for the Orange once again will be senior guard Dave Bing.  Bing is an outstanding talent who led the team in scoring each of his first 3 seasons and is the best player ever to play at this University.  Cat quick and a great leaper, Bing will hit jump shot after jump shot if you let him.  The 6’3 DC product does not have world class range but his 18 footer is pure.  He was new to the three point line experiment as it came halfway through his career on the Hill but he is adjusting as he always does.    Bing and Boeheim are tight as they were once roommates and the Coach relies on him completely.  Bing is one of the best passers on the team who could easily play point guard if his scoring was not so important.  He is the only Senior projected to start on a team filled with underclassmen and was the example of how to do things and play the game.   He is the team captain and this group of young bloods need his leadership and modeling if they are going to meet their expectations which are sky high in this central New York city. 

Sophomore Derrick Coleman is a prototype power forward who can rebound and has a silky smooth shot.  He has the body to bang and the smarts to play the game at the highest level.  It seems that his jump shot rains from the sky but he should always be inside the key doing the damage he was born to do.  He has a great touch around the basket but is most valuable eating up boards and blocking shots.  He is the best rebounder on the team and is without question the most talented big man on the roster.   Coleman was a huge get a year ago from Detroit for Boeheim and this 6’10 256 pound man/child has the potential to be one of the supreme power forwards in the country.  He has a ways to go as far as consistency to be the next Hayes or Walton but the talent is there and if he continues to progress the Orange and their fans will be the beneficiaries. 

Playing next to Coleman will be Junior Roosevelt Bouie.  The 6’11 235 big man from just up the road in Kendall New York was a huge game changer for Boeheim as he was the first big time recruit to he got after replacing the legendary Roy Danforth as Head Coach.  Bouie is an inside beast who can score, grab a board and block a shot.  He will even run the court a bit and might be the most unheralded player on the East Coast.  He acquiesced some of his responsibilities to Coleman last year so his numbers are not all-world but don’t underestimate this gentle giant.  He has the size and demeanor to be great but needs to get better on the block as he relies too much on his size (he is not a true seven footer though he looks like one with his world class afro and he does has a seven six wingspan).  Bouie does not even have to hop to block a shot but is still skinny and needs to fill out a bit before he will become as dominant as he could be on both ends.  He does have some issues with getting into foul trouble but this team is as deep as they come (sophomores Dan Schayes, the son of legendary Syracuse pro Dolph Schayes and a big Greek kid Rony Seikaly who both go 5’11 235 will battle for the backup role) and Coleman can play center when Boeheim goes small.  Q-Tip is ultra-popular with the Orange faithful as he and teammate Louis Orr formed the famed ‘Louie and Bouie’ show for the last two seasons as these two took the Syracuse area by storm especially their great freshman seasons.  Orr is a solid small forward who can score and will go into the year as the starter at the three.  Louie has a smooth jump shot and can really run the court but does have some issues with the three ball.  This could be an issue for the Orange as of right now the best three point shooter on the team might be Coleman and the lanky lefty needs to be inside for this team to be as good as it can be.  Please don’t make Coleman a primary shooter from the perimeter!   Of course Boeheim has supposedly brought in a couple of studs to compete for the three which as solid as Orr has been he is not exactly Vic Hanson.  Of course Hanson put this berg on the map and was one of the best players in the early days of this game and has never really been replaced but even Hanson could not get this team a national title.  If these kids coming in (Carmelo Anthony and Billy Owens) are half as good as advertised that could all change this year!  

Now for the kid who changed not only this program but has made watching the Big East on Mondays a must see event at least when the Orange are playing.  Sophomore Dwayne “Pearl” Washington is the most dynamic showmen this league has and when Boeheim landed this kid last year it was the greatest coup of his remarkable coaching career.  Washington is Mr. Energy who can take over a game with his passing, scoring and personality.  The Pearl had some huge games and became a fan favorite all across the East Coast with his gutty play and incredible charisma.  The highly recruited kid from Brooklyn is the master of the shake and bake and is a great clutch performer.   Nobody and that includes Mullin and Ewing have changed the trajectory of this brash new league on the court as much as the Pearl but he is by no means a perfect player.  He is nowhere near as quick on the defensive end as he getting inside the key and does not have a great jump shot (that Achilles heel will catch up with Orange at some point) and Boeheim, per usual, has recruited heavily at this position as he knows, being one back in the day, how important point guard is.  Senior Billy ‘the Bullet’ Gabor got passed up on the totem pole when he took a couple of years off for military service but is back and could challenge for minutes.  At 5’11 Gabor is more of a scorer than distributor and as his nickname would suggest he likes going to the hole which the Orange already have a plethora of dudes who can do this.  Junior Dennis Duval was replaced by the Pearl but adjusted well and gives the team a similarly dynamic presence when he is on the court and sophomore Sherman Douglas dominated on the JV team and will get some minutes but Boeheim is looking for a point guard who can shoot the three as well as distribute as this be speckled coach sees how this sport is trending. 

One thing for sure is the Orange have some depth if any if these guys should not work out and more importantly to make the practices as competitive as they can be.  Heck, you could feel up the Carrier Dome for the preseason practices this year as the fans are excited and they would witness some epic matchups.  Think of this high scoring Senior leaper Vinnie Cohen is not in the rotation right now and this Brooklyn native (man does Boeheim love recruiting Brooklyn) once averaged 15 a game playing next to Hanson.  The same could be said for senior post Eddie Miller who was the main man down low for the Orange not too long ago but only goes 6’8 so is now way down the depth chart.  Junior Rudy Hackett has decent size at 6’9 and might get some minutes up front but is more of a security blanker in case something happens to Coleman as of now.  Surprisingly the kid who might have the best chance of getting some real minutes is junior Jim Lee.  Jimmy brings something the Orange need and this is outside shooting but he is only 6’2 and not a great defender.  He hit almost 100 threes on the JV last year playing next to Douglas and boy this team need 3 point shooting so he has a shot of playing behind Bing. 

Coach Jim Boeheim has put together not only an ongoing great program in Central New York but may have accumulated the best collection of talent on the East Coast.  These boys not only can play basketball but can turn on a stadium with their incredible highlight film skills.  The Orange may be the best Big East team coming into this season and are always a hard matchup with their patented 2-3 zone.  Boeheim has systematically continued to recruit better classes of talented players than the ones he had before.  Relying on that tricky zone defense and a very fluid and symmetrical offense the Orange have moved up the ranks of college basketball slowly but surely!  Last year’s phenomenal class led by Pearl Washington and Derrick Coleman may have been superseded by this year’s crop with Carmelo Anthony and Billy Owens.  The only thing that will hold this team back is the their lack of three point shooting and Anthony can flat shoot the rock from anywhere.  The question is how much will Boeheim turn over the scoring load to Anthony?  After all even with the rule changes allowing freshman to play no first year player ever led a team to a national title!  But if the Orange are going to finally get over that hump then this ‘Melo’ kid has to be the main man in Syracuse.