Syracuse Men's Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview: What Fans Need to Know heading into Season Opener

The 2023-2024 Season Recap

Last year was the first season the Orange played without Jim Boeheim as the head coach since 1975. 

In Adrian Autry’s first season as head coach the team finished 20-12, and missed March Madness for the third year in a row. Syracuse hasn't missed three straight NCAA tournaments since 1967 - 1972.

Adrian Autry made it clear last season that he wanted to change the team's identity, and shift away from the 2-3 zone to man. 

The adjustment paid off with Syracuse finishing second in steals in the ACC. However, no matter how elite their defense was, the offensive production couldn't keep up. 

Judah Mintz led the Orange in points last year, racking up free throw after free throw. He finished with the 8th most free throw attempts in the nation. He's as savvy as anyone when it comes drawing fouls and getting to his spots inside the arc. The problem for Mintz came outside the arc.

He shot 28% from three and since there is no defensive three second violation in the NCAA defenders would often sag off of Judah, begging him to shoot a three. 

It is difficult to compete with teams like Duke and UNC when your offense relies entirely on a single player to score all your points,

Syracuse’s lack of facilitators last season might have been the team’s biggest exploit. Every possession felt like it would either be a Mintz or JJ Starling iso. Mintz and Starling are more than capable of creating their own buckets, but too many isolations frequently led to a stagnant offense and inefficient shot selections. 

When sixth-man Quadir Copeland came off the bench Syracuse became a completely different team. With Copeland at the helm everyone was getting fed the rock. Malik Brown became a lob machine, and Chris Bell turned into a three point merchant, shooting 43.5% from three on the season.

Still for what Mintz lacks in shooting and playmaking, there is no denying his natural ability to get to the rim at ease.

Between the incoming recruiting class , and the return of Mintz along with Copeland, Brown, JJ, and Bell for their junior seasons, there's some real hope that Syracuse can end the March Madness drought this upcoming season.

Recruits and Transfers  

Unfortunately, in the world of sports, nothing ever goes according to plan.

Mintz now plays for the 76ers G League Affiliate, The Delaware Blue Coats. Copeland transferred to McNeese, and Brown joined the enemy over at Duke. JJ Starling and Chris Bell are the only starters from last season who returned. That leaves unfilled responsibilities to the new recruits.  

Five star Power Forward  Donovan Freeman, and four-star Shooting Guard Choppa Moore are ready to fill those missing roles. 6 '10 Donovan Freeman is the number one PF in the nation and currently projected to be the 20th overall pick in the 2024-2025 draft. Moore is regarded as one the top three point shooters from his class. 

Syracuse’s starting five in their preseason matchup against was Jaquan Carlos, J.J. Starling, Chris Bell, Donovan Freeman and Eddie Lampkin Jr. 

Whether that remains the same will be seen on November 4th when Syracuse tips off the season against Lemoyne at the dome.