Jon Cincebox was an outstanding center for Syracuse for three seasons. He was a tremendous rebounder, one of the best in school history, with a strong wide body on a 6'7" frame. He was also a strong scoring threat inside, with a nice hook shot.

Cincebox's arrival as a sophomore was one of the crucial ingredients for the Orangemen to make their first NCAA tournament. He provided the size and strength for the Syracuse to be able to stop other teams defensively, limit rebounding, and improve the half court offense. Cincebox would lead the team in scoring in his first varsity game with 19 points. He and senior Jim Snyder would share a lot of the center position duties that year, combining for combining for 20 points and 18 rebounds a game. 'Big Jon' started the first twenty games of the season, and then began to tire. Snyder would start four of the final five games.

Syracuse lost five of the top six players from the NCAA team, with Cincebox being the returnee his junior season. He accepted a larger portion of the offense, scoring a career high 31 points against Army. Cincebox destroyed the Syracuse single season rebounding record with 345 rebounds and a 16.4 rebound per game average.

Expectations were high for Syracuse for Cincebox's senior season. He and high scoring Ed Goldberg both returned, and sophomore Pete Chudy, who had dominated the freshman team the year before, was joining the squad. Unfortunately the team would underachieve. Cincebox was the only player with real size and the only legitimate rebounding threat, and the Orangemen would struggle when he wasn't on the court. He personally would have a stellar year, once again leading the team in scoring, and again breaking the school single season rebounding record with 365 rebounds (a record that would stand until Vaughn Harper broke it in 1967).

Cincebox would leave Syracuse as the school's all-time rebounding record holder (until Derrick Coleman broke it 30 years later), and still holds the record for highest career rebounding average (14.6 per game). At the time he was the school's 5th all-time leading scorer.

Cincebox would be drafted in the 3rd round of the 1959 NBA draft by the Syracuse Nationals. He would not make the team, and would never play in the league. He would play two seasons for the New York Tapers in the National Industrial Basketball League in 1960-61 and 1961-62, the Pittsburgh Rens in the ABL in 1962-63, and the ABL's Chicago Majors in 1963-64.

Cincebox passed away in November 2016.

©RLYoung 2006, 2008, 2016, 2017