Syracuse Orange

From Hoopedia

Syracuse first fielded a basketball team in 1899 and enjoyed early success. The Helms Foundation designated the 1918 and 1926 teams as national champions. The 1926 squad was coached by legendary coach Lew Andreas and featured Hall of Fame player Vic Hanson.

The school made National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearances in 1946 and 1950 and made its first NCAA Division I Men's Tournament appearance in 1957.

The modern era of Syracuse basketball began with the arrival of future Hall of Famer Dave Bing. As a sophomore in 1964, Bing led the team to an NIT appearance and as a senior in 1966 he led the team to its second NCAA Tournament appearance, where it reached the regional final. Bing's backcourt partner on these teams was Jim Boeheim.

Syracuse remained competitive after Bing's departure, with NIT appearances in 1967, 1971 and 1972. Under coach Roy Danforth, in 1973 the team began a string of consecutive NCAA appearances highlighted by a Final Four appearance in 1975. The 1975 squad featured guards Jim Lee and Rudy Hackett and was affectionately known as "Roy's Runts".

Following the 1976 season, Danforth was hired away by Tulane University and the University turned to young assistant Jim Boeheim to assume the helm. Boeheim extended the string of NCAA appearances to nine, with bids in each of his first four seasons, a period in which his teams won 100 games. These teams featured star forward Louis Orr and center Roosevelt Bouie and were sometimes referred to as the "Louis and Bouie Show".

Syracuse was a founding member of the Big East Conference in 1979 along with Georgetown University, St. John's University and Providence College. Syracuse and Georgetown were each ranked in the top ten in 1980, and a new and major rivalry blossomed when Georgetown snapped the Orangemen's 57 game home winning streak in the final men's basketball game played at Manley Field House. After the remarkable 52-50 victory the legendary Georgetown coach, John Thompson Jr., commented, "Manley Field House is officially closed," frustrating Syracuse fans everywhere. Over the next ten seasons, these two schools met eight times in the Big East Tournament, four times in the finals, and met numerous times on national television during the regular season.

Jim Boeheim

Syracuse won the Big East Tournament in 1981 but was passed over by the NCAA Tournament. The team, featuring Danny Schayes and Leo Rautins, finished runners up in the NIT. The team returned to the NIT in 1982 before beginning another extended streak of NCAA appearances in 1983.

Buoyed by the visibility provided by the Big East and by rising attendances at the Carrier Dome, the Orangemen continued to increase in national prominence. Heralded high school phenomenon Dwayne "Pearl" Washington joined the Orangemen in 1983 and led the school to NCAA appearances in 1984, 1985, and 1986 before leaving school early for the NBA Draft.

Despite the early loss of Washington, Syracuse returned to the NCAA's in 1987 with a team featuring Rony Seikaly, Sherman Douglas and freshman Derrick Coleman, reaching the Final Four before losing in the final to Indiana on a last second jump shot. Led by Coleman, Douglas, Seikaly, Stephen Thompson and Billy Owens, the school extended its string of NCAA appearances to 10 seasons before that string was broken in 1993 by NCAA sanctions resulting from an incident involving a booster.

Led by guard Lawrence Moten and forward/center John Wallace, the school returned to the NCAA's in 1994 and 1995. In 1996, Wallace led the team to its third Final Four appearance, where it played impressively before losing in the final to a heavily favored Kentucky team that included nine future NBA players.

The 1997 squad won 19 games, but was bypassed by the NCAA Tournament and appeared in the NIT. The 1998, 1999 and 2000 squads featuring guard Jason Hart and center Etan Thomas all earned NCAA bids. In 2000, the University also named its All Century Team, recognizing its greatest players of the 20th century and the school's first 100 years of basketball. The team made a fourth consecutive NCAA appearance in 2001 but returned to the NIT in 2002 despite a having a 20 win season.

Carmelo Anthony

Although unranked in the preseason polls, in 2003, led by freshmen Carmelo Anthony, and Gerry McNamara and sophomore Hakim Warrick, the Orangemen won their first NCAA Tournament Championship defeating the University of Kansas in the final. Anthony was named NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Anthony left for the NBA Draft after the school year, but McNamara and Warrick stayed on, leading the team to NCAA bids in 2004 and 2005. In 2006 McNamara would lead the Orangemen to an extremely unexpected Big East Championship victory, making the 9th seeded Orangemen the lowest seed to ever win the championship and only the 3rd school to repeat as Big East tournament champions, but was immediately defeated in the opening round of the tournament by Texas A&M, 66-58.

For the 2006-2007 season, incoming freshman Paul Harris, a 6'4" 220 pound guard from Niagara Falls, NY, is the heralded marquee arrival in the wake of Gerry McNamara's graduation. Considered by some scouting websites as one of the ten best players out of high school for his year, Harris is expected to make an immediate impact.

To date, the Syracuse men's basketball program has made 31 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 4 Final Four appearances and one NCAA Tournament Championship. The program has also made 10 NIT appearances and won 2 early (pre-tournament era) national championships. The program has produced 2 Hall of Fame players, Vic Hanson and Dave Bing, and one Hall of Fame coach, Jim Boeheim.

Syracuse currently plays its home games in the Carrier Dome.

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