Syracuse Tops The New College Basketball Polls
Syracuse has topped the AP Top 25 Poll this week after a classic win over Duke. The orange remain undefeated and set a new school record for consecutive wins to start a season (21-0).
Syracuse’s team as a whole played phenomenally. My personal MVP of the game would go to Jerami Grant who finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and went 10 for 10 from the charity stripe. Eight of his points were during overtime. Stand out forward C.J Fair finished with 28 points, 12 for 20 from the field, and 5 rebounds. Big man Rakeem Christmas tacked on seven points and 10 rebounds. While sophomore Trevor Cooney added 14 points.
But during the game it was clear that freshman point guard Tyler Ennis was the leader of the squad. He’s improved a great deal over the last 13 weeks. Even though his stats aren’t shooting through the roof on an impressive scale (12.1 points, 5.7 assists), he does the things necessary to help his team win games.
Ennis’ offensive game isn’t the only thing to watch, he’s very dominating on defense too. He has a 6’2”, 180-pound frame but a 6’5” wingspan. He holds the spot for the 20th most steals per game in the country averaging 2.32.
Replacing NBA Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams, doesn’t seem like an easy thing to do but Ennis is handling the job quite well so far. He is definitely working his way up on my mock draft board solely off his natural talent to lead a team, see the court and control the ball.
“We have a point guard who plays like a senior,” says Head Coach Jim Boeheim. “I don’t tell him much. He has an instinct for the game, he knows when he has to do something different and that’s something you can’t teach a player.
Even if you pick apart the Ontario native’s other individual flaws, it’s hard to not recognize his leadership skills. The Syracuse organization seems like it is on it’s way to pushing another top-quality player through to the NBA.
