Syracuse basketball picked 11th in ACC preseason poll; how does that compare to previous years? (Mike’s Mailbox)

Syracuse, N.Y. – We continue to mark off the days before the 2024-25 basketball season starts.
There is less than three weeks until Syracuse opens the season on Monday, Nov. 4, against Le Moyne. And we’ve got two exhibition games (Oct. 26 vs. Clarion and Oct. 30 vs. Slippery Rock) in the interim.
While we’re counting down the days to opening night, we’re adding up a lot of questions submitted to the Mailbox. We’ve got some good ones this week.
Let’s get started.
(If you have a question for the Mailbox, email it to [email protected]).
Q: Since joining the ACC what’s the lowest that the Orange have been ranked preseason?
Gerry C.
Mike: The ACC released the results of its annual preseason media poll on Tuesday.
Syracuse was picked to finish 11th by the 54 members of the media panel that participated in the poll.
That’s the lowest preseason ranking in the ACC poll for Syracuse since the Orange joined the conference 12 years ago.
In the 11 previous seasons, the lowest Syracuse was ever ranked in the preseason poll was 10th. The Orange was picked 10th both last year and also in the 2017-18 season.
Syracuse did finish in a tie for 10th in 2018, but last year the Orange; in its first year under new head coach Adrian Autry, defied the “experts’’ and wound up in a tie for fifth.
Syracuse has also been picked to finish ninth once – in 2015-16 when the Orange did finish tied for ninth, but went on a surprise run to the Final Four.
Q: Is Elijah Moore more of a scorer or distributor?
Zane F.
Mike: Really good question. I’m very interested in seeing how the 6-foot-4 freshman guard from the Bronx looks as we see the Orange’s early exhibition games on Oct. 26 (Clarion) and Oct. 30 (Slippery Rock).
In the two times that I saw him in high school; actually in AAU competition, Moore’s strong suit was his ability to shoot the ball. He’s got a viper-quick release on his shot. His range extends well beyond the 3-point line.
He averaged 19.6 points per game in the Adidas 3SSB league and 16.9 points as a senior with Our Savior Lutheran in Overtime Elite.
Although Moore can handle the ball, I wouldn’t describe him as a distributor. He did average 2.4 assists per game as a senior, but his job was to score.
I think that’ll be his role initially at SU as well. Syracuse has ball-handlers like Jaquan Carlos, JJ Starling and Chance Westry. Moore’s avenue to playing time; at least for the upcoming season, will be his 3-point shooting ability.
Q: Angel Reese breaking the WNBA single-season rebounding record as a rookie got me thinking. Is any single-season Syracuse record held by a player who accomplished it in their first season at SU?
Bill N.
Mike: You wouldn’t expect to find too many records held by a player who established that record in their freshman year. Players get better with age and experience. So, naturally, most of Syracuse’s records are held by players who were upperclassmen at the time.
The players you might think might have set a single-season record in their freshman year would be guys like Carmelo Anthony, Pearl Washington or Derrick Coleman.
But I found just two single-season records in the Syracuse record book that are held by players who were freshmen at the time. And they weren’t Carmelo, Pearl or DC.
And they weren’t sophomores like Dave Bing from the era when freshmen weren’t eligible to play varsity ball.
As a freshman, Gerry McNamara made 90.9 percent of his free throws, going 90-for-99 at the line in 2002-03. That broke Jim Lee’s 30-year-old record and it still stands 20 years later.
Two years ago, Maliq Brown broke Jesse Edwards’ record for field goal percentage. Brown, a freshman in 2022-23, made 69.8 percent (74-of-106) of his shots.
Of note, two other players set records in their first year at Syracuse, but they weren’t freshman; or even sophomores.
In 2016-17, grad transfers Andrew White and John Gillon set the records for most 3-pointers made in a season (White with 112) and consecutive free throws made (Gillon with 48).
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