A decade-old AAU photo has become an easy way to understand how Syracuse men’s basketball got here.
The image shows the 2016 Albany City Rocks squad, with Greg Fahey on the staff as an assistant, and the names attached to it tell a bigger story than the picture itself. Seven players from that group went on to Division I basketball: Nate Williams at Buffalo, Greg Dolan at Cornell, Isaiah Stewart at Washington, Mika Adams-Woods at Cincinnati and St. Bonaventure, Jalen Pickett at Siena and Penn State, plus Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard at Syracuse.
The striking part is how many of them ended up on NBA rosters, while only Boeheim actually played for the Orange. That contrast sits right at the center of Syracuse’s recent slide. Since the 2016 Final Four, the program has dealt with probation and its recruiting fallout, the loss of Mike Hopkins, and a steady drop in the level of talent coming through the door.
Had Hopkins remained in Syracuse, Stewart would have likely anchored the middle in the 2019-20 season. COVID erased the postseason, so there’s no way to know exactly how that year might have shifted the program’s image, but one season with a second-team All-American could have mattered a lot.
Williams and Pickett were not viewed as painful misses at the time. They were not on Stewart’s level as recruits, and Syracuse had already brought in Quincey Guerrier and Kadary Richmond. But those players later left for other schools after the 2020-21 Sweet 16 run, and the Orange have had a hard time replacing those spots since.
What Syracuse also lost was the type of player development that turns useful pieces into starters. Williams and Pickett, both from just down the Thruway in Rochester, fit that mold. Williams became a major contributor at Buffalo, while Pickett went from MAC Player of the Year at Siena to All-American at Penn State.
The City Rocks connection kept showing up as the program’s downturn continued. Andre Jackson, another younger City Rocks player, picked Connecticut over Syracuse partly because Boeheim and Girard blocked his path. Jackson later won a national title and has played three seasons for Milwaukee.
Now Gerry McNamara is taking over, and the question hanging over his first Syracuse staff is simple: can they land and develop NBA-caliber talent? The early staff conversation centered on Arinze Onuaku and Ryan Blackwell, while the “non-Syracuse” group brings its own recruiting reach in the Northeast.
That leaves the program at a familiar crossroads. It is not just about keeping local talent. It is about getting the right players, then developing them into pros.
And there are already signs this year’s Orange could give that idea a real test. Dom pointed it out last week: scouts see promise in the group, even if nobody is being labeled a true can’t-miss prospect. That makes this season’s progression worth watching, and maybe, eventually, it means less of the “what could have been” conversation around Syracuse basketball.
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Syracuse Just Entered An Early Recruiting Battle Fans Need To Watch
Syracuses first-year staff under Gerry McNamara is already working the kind of early board that can shape a class years down the line, and one of the latest names to surface is a rising 2028 wing from The Phelps School in Pennsylvania. The Orange reached out as the contact period opened for high school juniors, putting themselves in the mix for a player who has quickly drawn attention from a range of high-major programs.
The competition is going to be real here, and that is what makes the pursuit worth watching. Recruiting analysts already view him as one of the better prospects in the country for his class, and Syracuse is now trying to establish itself early against programs with plenty of pull of their own. In a cycle this far out, the schools that get in first can matter, but they still have a lot of work to do from here. [Read more 🡒]
Another Local Syracuse Commit Is Fueling Fran Browns 2027 Momentum
Noah Collins-Howards June official visit to Syracuse gave the Orange another reminder of why the local recruiting pipeline has been such a useful part of Fran Browns push. The three-star wide receiver from Rush-Henrietta High School had already committed back in March, but the trip let him spend more time around the staff and future teammates and keep building on the connection that helped bring one of New Yorks top prospects into the fold.
Collins-Howard is ranked as the No. 9 overall prospect in the state and is part of a 2027 class that keeps getting bigger by the week. Syracuse has now landed 22 commitments, and the Orange have been especially active in June as Brown continues to stack pledges and reinforce the culture that has made local recruits comfortable staying close to home. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuses New 7-Footer Could Change Everything On Defense
Abdramane Sibys path to Syracuse has already been unusual before he ever steps into a college game. The 7-foot prospect from Mali went from there to Italy at 13, later spent time in Serbia, and now arrives in Central New York with the kind of frame and defensive profile that can change how a team plays around the rim.
Syracuse coach Gerry McNamara has made it clear the Orange needed more shot-altering ability, and Siby fits that need with his length, athleticism and defensive instincts. Scout Jonathan Givony has also been high on the pickup, and the next question for Syracuse is how quickly Siby can turn that promise into a reliable interior presence. [Read more 🡒]