Coach: Jim Boeheim

There were high hopes as the season began. The heroics and leadership of Gerry McNamara was gone, but Syracuse had four returning starters, including three seniors, and two highly touted freshman joining the team. The season would depend on how much the returning players had improved, and if the freshman were as good as advertised.

Seniors Demetris Nichols, Mookie Watkins and Terrence Roberts gave Syracuse an experienced front line, while junior Josh Wright joined Eric Devendorf in the backcourt. Freshman Paul Harris was highly rated, thought by many to be an impact player such as Carmelo Anthony, and Mike Jones was his classmate. On the bench were sophomores Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku, and senior Matt Gorman.

Before the season began, there was a minor setback as Onuaku had knee surgery that would keep him out for the entire season. The Orange would start out winning their first seven games, though they were hardly impressive. The team was plagued by turnovers on offense and sloppy defense. The team had a hard time getting cohesive teamwork. Injuries and off court issues plague the team, providing more obstacles. Watkins would break his nose in the Northeastern game, Roberts would injure his leg in the Drexel game, and Devendorf would struggle through the death of a close friend back home.

That would come to haunt them when they faced Wichita State, and the Orange would lose by three. A few nights later they would lose again, this time to Oklahoma State. In both games, the Orange had prolonged periods where they could not score, letting the opposition pull away. This would become a common theme for the Orange.

Freshman Mike Jones would then cause more disruption as he abruptly quit the team in late December. Devendorf was struggling so Jim Boeheim replaced him with Rautins in the starting lineup. Paul Harris was showing he was a great rebounder, but appeared to struggle mightily on the offensive end of the court.

The Orange would enter Big East play with an 11-3 record, but really no idea how good they were. Their first game was against highly rated Pittsburgh. Syracuse played tough, but ultimately the Panthers would win. Syracuse played well for a few games with an impressive road win at Marquette, and a dominating home victory over Villanova.

Then things fell apart. The Orange almost blew a big lead against Cincinnati, holding on to win by a point. They would follow that up with a loss to a marginal St. Johns team, and then they would blow a 14 point lead to Louisville, losing their second in a row. Three nights later, the Orange faced Notre Dame. Boeheim was concerned that the Irish perimeter shooters would destroy the Syracuse zone, so he played man-to-man for most the game. It did not matter as Notre Dame ran away with the game, 103-91, setting a Carrier Dome record for most points by an opponent, and giving the Orange three losses in a row. They would beat DePaul, but then lose to a struggling Connecticut team. The Orange were now 5-5 in the Big East conference, 16-8 overall, and struggling to make the postseason.

Devendorf had moved back into the starting lineup, but the Orange were still struggling. They played another close game against St. Johns, nearly losing, except for the heroics of Nichols who scored a career high 37 points in the two point win. A couple of games later Devendorf would take over the starting point guard position, and Rautins would move back into the shooting guard position, with Wright on the bench.

Rautins was suddenly hot from the perimeter, making over 60% of his three point shots in a four game stretch. The offense started to open up, and similarly the defense started playing well. The Orange would win five of their last six games, including a huge win over nationally ranked Georgetown, finishing their regular season at 10-6 in the conference 21-8 overall. Roberts played inspired basketball down the stretch, despite having a torn ligament in this knee, and Devendorf seemed determined to try to do whatever possible to win. Nichols remained the quiet assassin, as one of the leading scorers in the conference, and a top candidate for player of the year.

In the Big East conference tournament, the Orange would easily beat Connecticut in the first round. In the second round they would lose to Notre Dame in a close game. The Irish would shoot very well from the free throw line in that game, while the Orange, who had been shooting well all season (a rarity for Syracuse basketball), had a cold spell. That and turnovers cost the Orange.

Expectations were high for the Orange however, as fans wondered what seeding they would get in the upcoming NCAA tournament. And then the unthinkable happened. On 'Selection Sunday' the Orange found they were not invited to the NCAA playoffs, despite a consensus opinion they would be going. The selection committee, led by Princeton's Gary Walters felt the Orange were not qualified. They would instead be invited to the National Invitational Tournament. Orange fans were furious and upset. Jim Boeheim put it best when he said 'If 10-6 in the Big East isn't good enough to be in then I don't think we should be in the Big East.'

A wonderful thing started to happen. Fans had talked about boycotting the NIT game in a show of protest; and with a very snowy Syracuse winter still lingering around, no one could have blamed them. Instead over 16,000 fans (with no students since it was Spring Break) showed up to cheer the Orange on in their first game against South Alabama. A standing ovation was given to the team as they entered the court, and the crowd was raucous throughout. The Orange struggled to get into the game, falling behind by double digits in the first half. Devendorf was the only player holding the team together, on his way to a 34 point night. With about ten minutes to go, the Orange started playing together, and the seniors got into the game. Nichols was hot down the stretch, and the Orange defense was solid, as they would pull away and beat South Alabama 79-73.

The community was in a frenzy and the fans decided to set one for the record books. In the second round of the NIT tournament Syracuse faced San Diego State. An NIT record 26,752 fans showed up at the Carrier Dome to cheer the Orange on (breaking the old NIT record by over 3,000). The first half would be close, but the Orange would go on a run early in the second half, and put the game away. The Orange were able to get all the players into the game for their last 'home' game of the year.

Syracuse would travel down to Clemson for the quarter finals of the NIT. The Orange struggled offensively in the game, and were behind by 17 points with about seven minutes left in the game. Tiger's sophomore guard K.C. Rivers had a extremely good night as he had 21 points in the first half alone, seemingly making every shot he took, including a couple of bank shots. The season seemed done, as the Orange were so far behind.

But the team did not give up. And they clamped down on defense, and made a run at the end of the game. Despite still being sloppy with the ball, the Orange were down by 1 point with a minute to go. They seemed to be on the verge of pulling the unthinkable, erasing a seventeen point deficit. Clemson made they shots they had to make, and Syracuse had a chance to tie it on their last possession, but an errant shot by Josh Wright ended their hopes.

A roller coaster season for the Orange, highlighted by a group of players the fans really liked, but troubled by inconsistent play and sloppy ball handling. Nevertheless, a team that was warmly regarding by the fans.

© RLYoung 2006, 2007