For the first month of the college basketball season, Syracuse University’s Jim Boeheim appeared to be the unhappiest 8-0 coach in the country. He complained about his team’s turnovers. He moaned about its shooting. And he griped about its defensive lapses.
“Coach Boeheim wants to get the best out of us,” said senior forward Rick Jackson, who has been SU’s most consistent player. “We aren’t happy as a team. We want to get better every game we play.”
Boeheim has been an equal opportunity complainer, criticizing the veteran players as well as the Orange’s four highly touted freshmen. But given the amount of time the freshmen have had to play, even Boeheim would have to admit he has been satisfied with the performances of newcomers Baye Moussa Keita, Dion Waiters, C.J. Fair and Fab Melo.
Keita, a 6-10 center from Senegal, has been the Orange’s most pleasant surprise as he has played more minutes than Melo, a McDonald’s All-American who’s off to a rough start.
And Waiters, a 6-4 shooting guard, and Fair, a 6-8 small forward, have each provided a spark off the bench at various times.
After the Orange’s core four—Kris Joseph, Scoop Jardine, Brandon Triche and Jackson—the four freshmen have played the most minutes, relegating sophomores Mookie Jones and James Southerland to the end of SU’s bench.
“C.J., Dion and Baye are doing a great job,” said Jardine, SU’s junior point guard, after the Orange outlasted North Carolina State 65-59 Dec. 4. “Baye came in with energy. C.J. came in with energy. We have a lot of different looks and we have to bring it all together.”
With one quarter of the season in the books and Big East Conference play on deck, here’s a look at SU’s four freshmen and how they performed before the Dec. 7 game against Michigan State:
Baye Moussa Keita
Stats: 3.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 blocks in 20.6 minutes per game.
Highlight: Despite playing with four fouls, Keita made two key defensive plays against N.C. State that helped turn a six-point deficit midway through the second half into a win. “Coach told me to play hard and play smart,” Keita said. “He said those two plays at the end probably won the game.”
Honorable mention:
Yes, Keita did pull down 15 rebounds against Canisius. But that was Canisius. Against Michigan in the Legends Classic, Keita grabbed nine boards and blocked two shots in 26 minutes of a 3-point victory.
Keita’s quote: “I’m feeling confident. I know I’m a freshman, but they have confidence in me to use me in tight, close games.”
Boeheim’s quote (after the Canisius game): “I said in the preseason he’s been the biggest surprise on our team He still has a long way to go, but he’s an active player.”
Dion Waiters
Stats: 6.6 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists in 14.8 minutes per game.
Highlight: Waiters, who is Jardine’s cousin, shot 5-of-7 and scored 13 points in the Orange’s 80-76 win over Georgia Tech in the Legends Classic championship game in Atlantic City.
Honorable mention: Waiters filled up the stat sheet against Cornell with 11 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals. But he played only 10 minutes in the next game against N.C. State because he left the Wolfpack’s Scott Wood open for two 3-pointers in the first half.
Waiters’ quote: “I feel very comfortable.
I work hard. I’m usually the first one in and the last one to leave the gym. I have a lot of confidence in my jump shot.”
Boeheim’s quote (after the Cornell game): “He has good moments on offense. He makes mistakes we can’t make in transition. He makes a good play and comes down three-on-one and we can’t even get a shot.”
C.J. Fair
Stats: 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.8 steals in 13.4 minutes per game.
Highlight: Scored 10 points in 22 minutes against Georgia Tech and his first career 3- pointer at the end of the first half gave the Orange its first lead of the game.
Honorable mention: Fair’s poster-worthy, NBA-quality slam dunk late in the second half against Cornell could be the highlight of the year so far at the Carrier Dome. “It was a great feeling,” Fair said. “It got the crowd involved and was a big boost to the guys.”
Fair’s quote: “I’m just trying to play my game and do other stuff, like rebound, steals and stuff like that. I think so far {the freshmen} have been carrying our weight. As long as we keep working, we’ll get better” Boeheim’s quote (after the Kutztown exhibition game): “C.J. is a smart player and he does get in the right places. He’s a good finisher, a good rebounder.”
Fab Melo
Stats: 2.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.0 in 13.5 minutes per game.
Highlight: Recorded career highs in points (8), rebounds (7), blocked shots (4) and minutes (22) in SU’s 78-58 romp over Cornell Nov. 30. “In high school, blocked shots and rebounds are what I did best,” said Melo, who’s from Brazil. “In the first games I didn’t do it; I don’t know why. But {against Cornell} I felt more comfortable on the court.”
Honorable mention: The 7-0 Melo scored five of SU’s nine points and had three rebounds in 10 minutes in the first half against N.C. State, then disappeared as Keita played most of the key minutes in the second half.
Melo’s quote: “I think I got caught up with the pressure. I came in here with a lot of pressure {as a five-star recruit}, but I’ve only been playing basketball for five years. I’m getting used to it now.”
Boeheim’s quote (after the Cornell game):
“He was a little more active. The second time he got in the game he couldn’t get up and down the court two or three times in a row and they went down and got layups. He has to be able to get up and down to get in position”
—Matt Michael
Young guns: Three of the four freshmen getting playing time in Coach Jim Boeheim’s rotation are (left) Fab Melo (No. 51), C.J. Fair (No. 5) and (above) Dion Waiters, all photographed in action against North Carolina State.
