Raf Addison was an gangly awkward looking player who was an outstanding shooter and a solid all-around player. He was able to play both the shooting guard and small forward positions, and with his size and shooting range, created a mismatch in both scenarios. Addison was a good athlete with quick hands; he once set the SU freshman record for steals in a game with seven. He was a good free through shooter, and adept at passing the ball at his size.

As a freshman, Addison came out of nowhere to provide some valuable minutes off the bench behind Syracuse's high profile senior trio of Rautins, Santifer, and Bruin. His efforts placed him on the All Big East Rookie team. As a sophomore he stepped right into the starting lineup to lead the Orangemen in scoring, and with the dynamic Pearl Washington, the two improved the team, despite the loss of the three seniors. He would score 31 points in the first round of the Big East Tournament that year to beat Connecticut. By his junior year, Addison was gaining a national reputation as being the most underrated player in the country, and again led the Orangemen in scoring.

Expectations for the Orangemen were high his senior year, as Addison was taking aim at Dave Bing's career scoring record, the Pearl was dynamic as ever, and the rest of the team matured. Jim Boeheim started having Addison spend time at the shooting guard position, to open up the low post game for Wendell Alexis and Rony Seikaly. And in many ways the team did not disappoint anyone as they posted an outstanding regular season record and won the Big East Regular Season title.

However, for Addison, his senior year would be a frustrating one. He would injure his leg in early winter. While he did not miss any games, it did hamper his playing ability and limit some of his playing time, and his scoring dropped off sharply the second half of the season. In the NCAA tournament, Syracuse had an embarrassing loss in the second round to Navy, who did have 6'10" future NBA superstar David Robinson. Addison finished the year only seven points shy of Bing's record.

Addison was first team Big East his junior year, and second team his sophomore and senior seasons. Addison earned a degree in communications from Syracuse later that year.

He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1986 draft by the Phoenix Suns. He would play a total of six seasons in the NBA, spread over eleven years. He spent time with the Phoenix Suns, New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons, and Charlotte Hornets. In 1988 he went to Italy where he was an All-Star for five seasons, before returning to the U.S. After he finished with the NBA, he played in Greece for a couple of years.

In 1998 he returned to his high school alma mater as the basketball coach and a teacher. He would coach basketball for seventeen yeaers. When he was in high school, he had led Snyder High school to the New Jersey Class IV state championship his senior year. He was named to the Syracuse All Century Team in 2000. Addison was named a Syracuse Letterwinner of Distinction in 2017 and awarded the Vic Hanson Medal of Excellence in 1998.

©RLYoung 2005, 2006